Assad warns of instability if regime falls Syrian rebels have seized a checkpoint on a key highway from Damascus to the border with Jordan. SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad has warned that the fall of his regime would produce a "domino effect" that would destabilise the region "for many years." "The whole world knows that if Syria is partitioned, or if terrorist forces take control of the country, there will be direct contagion of the surrounding countries," he said in an interview with two Turkish media outlets. Then there would be a domino effect on countries perhaps far from the Middle East, to the west, east, north and south. This would mean instability for many years, even decades," he said. Video of the interview, conducted earlier in the week, was posted on the Syrian presidency's Facebook page on Friday night. In excerpts posted earlier in the week, Assad lashed out at the Arab League and its decision to hand Syria's seat to the opposition. The Arab League lacks legitimacy. It's a League that represents the Arab states, not the Arab people, so it can't grant or retract legitimacy. The interview, with Turkey's Ulusal television and Aydinlik newspaper, focused extensively on Syria's ties with Ankara, which has backed the two-year uprising against his regime. Damascus has regularly accused Ankara of financing, training and arming rebels fighting troops loyal to Assad. The UN says Turkey currently hosts more than 260,000 Syrian refugees. The UN says more than 70,000 people have been killed in a spiralling war that broke out in March 2011 after the army unleashed a crackdown on a peaceful revolt which morphed into an armed uprising. Meanwhile, Syrian rebels seized a government checkpoint on a key highway from Damascus to the border with Jordan, as fighting intensifies on the outskirts of Damascus. "Rebel fighters took control of the Umm al-Mayathin military checkpoint ... in Daraa province in clashes with regime forces," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "Two fighters were killed and others wounded," the group added, saying there was no immediate word on any army casualties. The checkpoint lies close to the border with Jordan, along the main highway from Damascus. Rebels already control the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh, further north towards the capital. Fierce fighting raged between troops and rebels in Daraya, southwest of the capital, with the Observatory also reporting shelling by the army of neighbouring Moadamiyet al-Sham. The fighting in Daraya is part of a campaign by government forces to recapture areas on the outskirts of Damascus that rebels have been using as launchpads for attacks on the capital. Rebel forces also fired on both Aleppo International Airport and Neirab military airbase. Rebels have laid siege to both since February, in a bid to disrupt the movement of military aircraft. Nationwide, violence killed at least 36 people on Friday, said the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and doctors inside Syria.