0
UNITED NATIONS: The United States has evidence of “crimes” in Syria and is ready to use it to step up pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, the US ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Assad's deadly crackdown on opposition protests, Ambassador Susan Rice said there would be more international action against Assad who has “lost his legitimacy to rule.”
A UN official is to brief the 15-member Security Council on the intensifying crackdown in Syria, one week after the council condemned the government's violence.
Western nations will use the meeting to test reaction to possible stronger UN steps against Assad, diplomats from various countries said.
“From the United States' point of view we are going to continue and intensify our pressure both through our national actions, in additional sanctions, as well as coordinated efforts with other partners here in New York and around the world,” Rice told reporters.
“We have evidence of crimes, we would share that quite readily with any in a position to investigate,” she told reporters, without giving details of the allegations.
“The United States acts both in the context of the Security Council and in our bilateral and other regional relationships, so we are working across the board to underscore that the behavior of Assad is absolutely unacceptable,” she added.
“In the view of the United States he has lost his legitimacy to rule and Syria would be a better place without him,” Rice said. “We are looking to the future and looking to lend support to the people of Syria who have the same aspirations for freedom and democracy that we have seen in so many other parts of the world.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said the Syrian regime was responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 people, and while she too stressed that Assad has lost legitimacy to govern, Washington has so far resisted issuing a direct call for Assad to step down.
The Security Council passed a statement last week condemning the violence and calling for Wednesday's report on events in the country. Russia and China have led opposition to a formal UN resolution, however, with the support of Brazil, India and South Africa.
With the same countries still angry over Nato air strikes in Libya, western nations say it will be difficult to win the required majority for a sanctions resolution against Syria.
“I am loathe to predict how exactly the council will respond in the future,” Rice said.
“I think members have been moved by what they have seen of late and by the intensifying and horrific violence that we have seen against civilians. But we have also been frustrated quite candidly that it has taken as long as it has for the council to speak with one voice,” she said.
“It is past time for all council members to put the interests of the Syrian people rather than particular bilateral issues or interests at the forefront of their actions,” she added.
