 |
| Clinton in Sofia on Sunday. (Reuters) |
Sofia, Bulgaria, Feb. 5 (AP): US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton today called for “friends of democratic Syria” to unite and rally against President Bashar Assad’s regime, previewing the possible formation of a formal group of like-minded nations to co-ordinate assistance to the Syrian Opposition.
Clinton was bluntly critical of yesterday’s veto by Russia and China at the UN that blocked action against the continuing violence in Syria.
The commander of rebel Syrian soldiers said there was no choice but to use military force to drive Assad’s regime from power as fears mounted that government troops will escalate their deadly crackdown on dissent after the veto. The threat of both sides turning to greater force raises the potential for Syria to enter a dangerous new phase that threatens to degenerate into outright civil war.
“There is no other road” except military action to topple Assad, Col. Riad al-Asaad, the commander of the Free Syrian Army said by telephone from Turkey.
A Syrian state-run newspaper vowed today that Damascus would pursue the crackdown on the uprising until stability is restored.
On Saturday, regime forces had bombarded Homs in what activists said was the deadliest incident of the uprising. They reportedly killed more than 200, but the regime denied any bombardment and there was no way to independently confirm the toll.
Speaking in the Bulgarian capital Sofia a day after Russia and China blocked UN Security Council action on Syria, Clinton said the international community had a duty to halt the ongoing bloodshed and promote a political transition that would see Assad step down. She said the “friends of Syria” should work together to promote those ends.
“What happened yesterday at the United Nations was a travesty,” Clinton said. “Faced with a neutered Security Council, we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people’s right to have a better future,” Clinton told reporters after meeting top Bulgarian officials.
Such a group could be similar, but not identical, to the Contact Group on Libya, which oversaw international help for opponents of the late Muammar Gaddafi.
However, in the case of Libya, the group also co-ordinated Nato military operations to protect Libyan civilians, something that is not envisioned in Syria.
Clinton warned that a failure to act would increase the chances for “a brutal civil war” as many Syrians under attack from their government moved to defend themselves.
US officials said a friends group would work to further squeeze the Assad regime by enhancing sanctions against it, bringing disparate Syrian opposition groups inside and outside the country together, providing humanitarian relief for embattled Syrian communities and working to prevent an escalation of violence by monitoring arms sales.
“We will work to expose those who are still funding the regime and sending it weapons to be used against defenseless Syrians, including women and children,” Clinton said. “We will work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition’s peaceful political plans for change.”
Syria’s Opposition appealed for international backing along the lines she suggested following the double-veto at the UN Security Council that outraged the US, its European allies and Arab leaders and intensified fears that Assad would unleash even greater violence to crush protesters.
|
