Tony Abbott: 'Syria Is Baddies Vs Baddies'

Australia's opposition leader Tony Abbott has defended comments he made describing the Syrian conflict as "baddies versus baddies" which have been ridiculed by the prime minister.

Mr Abbott is the front-runner to win the election on Saturday but questions have been raised about his foreign policy abilities should he beat Kevin Rudd.

He came under fire after he gave a television interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday in which he expressed doubts about a political solution being found to the Syrian crisis.

He remarked that the conflict involved "baddies versus baddies" - a take that Mr Rudd on Monday described as "the most simplistic analysis I've ever heard".

He mocked his rival as a graduate from the "John Wayne school of international relations" and likened the comments to a children's game of Cowboys and Indians.

"These remarks demonstrate that he is not competent and not comfortable with national security and foreign policy," Mr Rudd added.

Mr Abbott rejected the criticism: "I think we're seeing a little bit more hyperventilation from a desperate and shrill government," he told ABC, adding that the Syrian civil war was being waged between "two more or less equally unsavoury sides".

"On the one hand, we've got the Assad regime which is so barbaric that it seems to have used poison gas on its own people.

"On the other hand, we have the Free Syrian Army and others who are heavily influenced by al Qaeda. So it is a civil war between two deeply unsavoury sides and that's why I make the point that we should be very careful about involvement in anything that would end up making a bad situation worse."

Mr Abbott added that "the odd use of colloquialism is perfectly appropriate if you are trying to explain to the public exactly what the situation is".

His comments came as Australia assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council and as US President Barack Obama launched a lobbying effort to sway sceptical lawmakers as they decide whether to support military strikes against Syria over a suspected chemical weapons attack on civilians.

An opinion poll published in The Australian newspaper on Monday showed Mr Abbott's conservative coalition holding a large lead over the ruling centre-left Labor Party, with 54% of voter support compared to 46%.

In August, Mr Abbott made another campaign blunder when he mixed up the words "suppository" and "repository" during a speech to his party.

He also described one of his key candidates as having "a bit of sex appeal", embarrassing his daughter who was standing next to him.