Post by uz on Feb 7, 2012 21:13:37 GMT -5
(CNN) -- As violence raged in Syria, U.S. officials made clear Tuesday that the United States has lost patience with President Bashar al-Assad.
"Your days are numbered," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in comments directed at the Syrian leader. "It is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully."
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Spain, France and Italy called home their ambassadors as well. Britain did so on Monday, the same day the United States closed its embassy in Damascus, saying the Syrian government was refusing to address its security concerns.
The Gulf Cooperation Council also called on Arab League nations to "take decisive action against this dangerous escalation against the Syrian people" at a meeting next week.
The council may pursue another step. Use of the term "collective massacre" in the statement indicates the members are ready to begin building a case against the Syrian regime for consideration by the International Criminal Court, a council diplomatic source told CNN.
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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had some of the sharpest words, calling on al-Assad "to return from this wrong path before taking the lives of more innocent civilians." In comments broadcast live on Turkish TV, Erdogan said he had a message for al-Assad "in a way he can understand: ... What goes around comes around."
Erdogan also called events at the U.N. Security Council "a fiasco in terms of the civilized world."
Opposition activists and several of the 13 U.N. Security Council member nations that voted for the resolution have said Russia and China have blood on their hands for vetoing it as more members of the opposition are killed.
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"We believe in continuing the efforts to reach a resolution for the Syrian crisis," Syrian state TV quoted Lavrov as saying. "Russia needs peace and an agreement has to be reached, away from any foreign interference."
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www.cnn.com/2012/02/07/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
"Your days are numbered," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in comments directed at the Syrian leader. "It is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully."
-
Spain, France and Italy called home their ambassadors as well. Britain did so on Monday, the same day the United States closed its embassy in Damascus, saying the Syrian government was refusing to address its security concerns.
The Gulf Cooperation Council also called on Arab League nations to "take decisive action against this dangerous escalation against the Syrian people" at a meeting next week.
The council may pursue another step. Use of the term "collective massacre" in the statement indicates the members are ready to begin building a case against the Syrian regime for consideration by the International Criminal Court, a council diplomatic source told CNN.
-
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had some of the sharpest words, calling on al-Assad "to return from this wrong path before taking the lives of more innocent civilians." In comments broadcast live on Turkish TV, Erdogan said he had a message for al-Assad "in a way he can understand: ... What goes around comes around."
Erdogan also called events at the U.N. Security Council "a fiasco in terms of the civilized world."
Opposition activists and several of the 13 U.N. Security Council member nations that voted for the resolution have said Russia and China have blood on their hands for vetoing it as more members of the opposition are killed.
-
"We believe in continuing the efforts to reach a resolution for the Syrian crisis," Syrian state TV quoted Lavrov as saying. "Russia needs peace and an agreement has to be reached, away from any foreign interference."
-
www.cnn.com/2012/02/07/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_c1