Posted Wednesday, November 9th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
VOA
U.S. officials say Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule is coming to an end as U.S. and international sanctions and the democratic aspirations of the Syrian people are having their intended effect.
Assistant U.S. Secretary of State , Jeffrey Feldman told the Senate Foreign Affairs subcommittee Wednesday, Syrian oil revenue is now almost non-existent and Damascus' assets in U.S. and European banks have been frozen.
Feldman said Syria is cut off from most of the international financial system and as cash starts to dry up, more Syrians see that the regime is not sustainable. He urged the Arab League to take a tougher stance against the Damascus government as part of a coordinated global effort to force Mr. Assad from power through non-military means.
Meanwhile, the government's deadly crackdown on protests across Syria continued. A Syrian rights group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told VOA 17 people were killed Wednesday, six of them in the capital.
The causality figures could not be independently verified because Syria bars most foreign journalists from operating in the country.
The U.N. human rights office says at least 3,500 people have been killed in the country since the uprising began in March.
Also Wednesday, Washington again advised Mr. Assad's opponents not to accept the government's offer of amnesty if they surrender weapons, given its brutal track record of lawlessness, torture and thuggery against the opposition.
Last week, the Damascus government said it was giving armed protestors a week to turn themselves in. It said those who surrendered and had not killed anyone would be released in a short time.
But the U.S. State Department warned opponents would be “unwise” to accept the offer. The initial U.S. admonition against the move drew an angry response from Damascus, which charged that the United States was encouraging sedition, murder and terrorism.
State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said the hostile Syrian reaction to the U.S. comments was part of an effort by Damascus to inject the United States into the conflict that he said is really between the Syrian government and its own people.
The Arab League, meanwhile, has called an emergency meeting for Saturday to discuss what it calls Syria's failure to end the violent crackdown on the uprising. Under the Arab League peace plan signed by Syria last week, Damascus promised to withdraw security forces from the streets and start a dialogue with the opposition.
Tags: Nd, Syria, Upd
Posted in Middle East
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U.S. cautions on Syria deal, says Assad must go
WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 2, 2011 3:41pm EDT
(Reuters) - The Obama administration on Wednesday expressed reservations about whether Damascus would live up to an Arab League plan aimed at ending a violent crackdown on protesters and repeated the U.S. call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
The U.S. State Department said it would review details of a deal announced by the Arab League under which it said Syria had agreed to a complete halt to violence, the release of prisoners, removing the military presence from cities and residential areas and allowing the Arab League and media access to report on the situation.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland suggested that Washington had doubts about the viability of the plan.
"Syria's made a lot of promises to the international community in the past," Nuland told a news briefing, saying the core issue was "a real process of democratization in Syria."
"That is the basis on which we will judge whatever has been agreed to here," Nuland said. "We're not going to judge them by their words, we're going to judge them by their actions."
"There is a risk here that they are trying to string out diplomacy, that they are trying to offer their own people half steps, or quarter measures, rather than taking the real steps."
The White House said Assad should step aside, repeating a call made repeatedly since U.S. President Barack Obama in August said the long-time Syrian ruler was standing in the way of real reform in the country.
"Our position remains that President Assad has lost his legitimacy to rule and should step down," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
"We support all international efforts that are aimed toward convincing the regime to stop attacking its own people."
The United States has imposed a series of sanctions on Syrian officials and government organizations since Damascus launched the crackdown in March, and Nuland said Washington remained concerned about continued violence despite the Arab League mediation effort.
"We've seen Syria saying publicly its prepared to accept the (Arab League) proposals, at the same time we've also seen new violence at the hands of the regime in Syria itself," Nuland said.
"There is concern that even as they say they're prepared for peace they are still exacting violence and brutality on their own people."
The United States pulled its ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford, out of Syria on October 24 because of threats to his safety. Ford has been an outspoken critic of the Assad government and his support for protesters seeking an end to 41 years of Assad family rule.
The United States has said it hopes Ford will be able to return to Damascus by the November 24 U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
(Reporting by Andrew Quinn, Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick; editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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What do you think ?
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Độc tài Assad đã GIẾT quá nhiều người dân Syria
YES, Assad must go .
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