Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday ruled out dialogue with opposition groups he called "puppets" of the West and vowed to continue battling "terrorists" and "gangsters" fighting to overthrow his regime.
"These are the enemies of the people, the enemies of God. Eventually they resorted to terrorism to terrorize the people," al-Assad said in his first public address in more than seven months.
"They call it a revolution, but it has nothing to do with revolution. A revolution needs thinkers. Those are a bunch of criminals," he added, referring to rebels fighting to depose him.
The audience, who packed the opera house in the capital Damascus, interrupted him several times with tumultuous applause.
"With our soul and blood, we defend you, Bashar," his supporters chanted in unison.
Al-Assad said the rebels backed by foreign powers were waging an "external war" on Syria.
"One certain thing is that those whom we are facing today embrace the al-Qaeda ideology," he added, reiterating his government's assertions that "foreign terrorists" are behind the country's nearly two-year conflict.
Al-Assad called for national mobilization to defend the nation in what he called "a state of war in the full sense of the word."
He thanked Russia, China and Iran - his main allies - for their support during the crisis that started as a pro-democracy uprising in March 2011 and then developed into an armed conflict.
Al-Assad also spelled out what he called an initiative to end the crisis, which was dismissed by the opposition as aimed at undermining diplomatic efforts.
According to al-Assad, the plan entails a national reconciliation conference, a broad-based government, parliamentary elections and a new constitution.
However, he conditioned the commencement of the "initiative" on the cessation of foreign assistance to rebels.
"We will only hold dialogue with the masters (of their decisions) not the slaves (of foreign powers)," Assad said.
Opposition groups rejected al-Assad's demands, and insisted that no political solution to the crisis could be reached unless he steps down.
"There is no chance for reaching a solution in Syria with such a regime in power," Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.
"The speech was repetitive. Al-Assad and his aides are still living away from realities on the ground."
The rebels have made significant gains in the north and in recent months brought their struggle to Damascus.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the speech was "beyond hypocritical."
"Empty promises of reform fool no one," Hague added in a tweet.
Meanwhile, the European Union called on al-Assad to step down.
We will look carefully if there is anything new in the speech but we maintain our position that al-Assad has to step aside and allow for a political transition," the EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton said.
The United Nations said this week that the death toll in Syria had reached 60,000, the highest estimate in the 21-month crisis.
Lebanon said the Arab League would hold a meeting on January 13 to discuss how the organization can assist the country in coping with an influx of refugees from neighbouring Syria.
There are more than 170,000 registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.