Syria's president turned up at a boisterous pro-government rally in Damascus Wednesday, exhorting his followers and again underscoring his view that the months of popular unrest in his nation are the result of a "conspiracy."

"We will triumph over this conspiracy," President Bashar al-Assad told a cheering, clapping and flag-waving throng.

"I will not say that the country is confronting a major conspiracy because you are here to stand up against it," he said. "These are the final phases of the conspiracy, and we will make sure that we will stand up victorious."

His appearance at the rally comes a day after al-Assad delivered a defiant televised speech Tuesday, strongly defending his government's reforms and blaming his country's unrest on "external conspiracies."