BEIRUT -- The United States closed its Syrian embassy Monday in an attempt to remove President Bassar al- Assad from power.
The embassy closed as a result of increased violence and instability in Syria and had been reducing staff for weeks, said a New York Times article. Both the Assad government and rebel forces see armed conflict as the only way to solve the 11-month old conflict.
William Hague, British foreign secretary, said Syria is "a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime" after the British ambassador was recalled to the Syrian capital Demascus Monday. "There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally," he said.
President Barak Obama said Assad will be out in a matter of time, reported the Star Tribune.
"We have been relentless in sending a message that it is time for Assad to go," he said in an interview with NBC. "This is not going to be a matter of if, it's going to be a matter of when."
Though diplomatic efforts to resolve the uprising were hindered at the U.N. through vetoes by China and Russia, the actions by the U.S. and Britain signaled that Western Powers have no intention in engaging Assad.
Violence is largest in Homs, the third-largest city in Syria, where 200 people were said to have died Friday and Saturday and at least 40 more people on Monday.
Despite increased pressure from the U.S., Obama said that a negotiated solution with recourse to outside military intervention was possible.
White House spokesperson Jay Carney later said that the administration was taking "no options off the table."
"We need to act to allow a peaceful political transition to go forward before the regime's escalating violence puts a political solution out of reach," Carney said.
Leave a comment