Syrian President Bashar al-Assad denied ordering the killing of thousands of protesters and said "only a crazy person" would target his own people, in a rare U.S. interview released Wednesday, December 7, AFP reports.

Speaking to ABC News, Assad brushed off widening international sanctions and questioned the UN death toll of more than 4,000 since the eruption of the unrest in March, saying most victims were government supporters.

Assad said he was not responsible for the bloodshed and blamed any excesses on individuals rather than his regime. "We don't kill our people," ABC News quoted Assad as saying. "No government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person."

"There was no command to kill or be brutal," Assad said.

Syria has faced growing international condemnation, including Western sanctions and similar action by the Arab League and neighboring Turkey.

Assad noted such threats did not worry him, saying: "We've been under sanctions for the last 30, 35 years. It's not something new."