The respected Hamburg-based weekly reported that Assad acknowledged "personal mistakes by individuals," though the advance version of the interview released Saturday didn't elaborate on what those mistakes might have been.
"We all make mistakes. Even a president makes mistakes," Der Spiegel quoted him as saying. Assad reportedly added that there were "gray tones" as far as the question of blame was concerned.
Assad, whose authoritarian rule prompted protests more than two years ago that evolved into a bloody civil war with over 100,000 dead, said he didn't believe in a negotiated peace with the rebels trying to oust him.