US tells G8 Syria’s Assad must go
Syrian protester holds a sign with the message “Free Syria” during a demonstration against the Syrian regime, in Geneva, Switzerland, Saturday, May 19, 2012.
(AP Photo/Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)
CAMP DAVID, Md., May 19 (Reuters) – PresidentBarack ObamatoldG8leaders meeting at Camp David that Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assadmust leave power, and pointed toYemenas a model of how political transition could work there, the White House said on Saturday.
Ben Rhodes, an Obama deputy national security adviser, said the recent focus on securing access for U.N. monitors and keeping track of ceasefires had distracted from the fundamental problems inSyria, where Assad, whose father ruled the country before him, has been attacking protesters for 14 months.
TheUnited Nationsestimates some 9,000 people have been killed inSyriasince the start of the uprising in March 2011, when unrest that toppled leaders inEgypt,Tunisiaand elsewhere was spreading acrossNorth Africa.
Washington‘s patience has been wearing thin with Assad, who said he would adhere to a U.N.-Arab Leaguepeace plan but has failed to bring violence to a full halt, blaming “terrorists” for recent attacks inDamascusand elsewhere.
“It is our assessment that you are not going to be able to solve this problem just with monitors and ceasefires, that you need to have a political process underway that is responsive to the Syrian people, because otherwise you are not going to solve the problem,” Rhodes said.
He said theG8leaders – from Britain,France,Germany,Italy,Japan,RussiaandCanada, plus theUnited Stateswhich is hosting the summit – discussed during their dinner on Friday how a political transition could take place inSyria.
Alone among the eight,Russiahas supported Assad and opposed stiffer U.N. sanctions against domestic.
“Some may like or dislike theSyrian government, some may have different views on the last election which took place inSyriabut one cannot avoid a question – if Assad goes, who will replace him?” saidMikhail Margelov, a Russian parliamentarian and aide to Prime MinisterDmitry Medvedev.
“We believe that the Syrian crisis can not be dealt with an axe, one should work on it with a pair of pincers,” he said.
Obama brought upYemenas an example of a leader departing power peacefully and ushering in a democratic process, Rhodes said, telling the press: “Our point was that we need to see political transition underway that brings real change toSyria.”
“We believe that change has to includeBashar al-Assadleaving power. And unless you begin the process of a political transition of some sort, you are not going to be able to deal with reducing the violence and addressing the grievances of the people who came out in the street to start with,” Rhodes said.
Former Yemeni PresidentAli Abdullah Salehruled the poor Gulf nation for 33 years and was eventually unseated after an uprising against him last year that split the country’s armed forces into warring factions.
Saleh was granted immunity from prosecution over the killing of protesters as part of power transfer deal that eased him out of office. Many Yemenis believe Saleh ought to have been put on trial; rights groups say hundreds of protesters were killed his security forces in the revolt.
U.N. Security GeneralBan Ki-moonsaid this month there was only a narrow window of opportunity to avert full-scale civil war inSyria, which bordersTurkey,Jordan,Israel,IraqandLebanon. The country’s 23 million people comprise a mix of sects and ethnic groups whose tensions could resonate in the region. (Additional reporting by Gleb Bryanski. Writing by Laura MacInnis; editing by Warren Strobel and Christopher Wilson; Editing by Vicki Allen)