WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said late on Thursday that it is up for the Syrian people to decide when it is time for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign while hoping to see more international pressure on the Syrian regime.
Clinton said in an interview with CBS News that "it is going to be up to the Syrian people" to decide when it is time for Assad to step down while noting the US administration "has been "working very hard to marshal international opinion".
"We have spent an enormous amount of diplomatic time and effort creating what is a crescendo of condemnatory comments from an increasingly large chorus of international opinion," she added. Clinton affirmed that "what is important is that the Syrian people know that the United States is on the side of a peaceful transition to democracy. We believe that they have the same right as people anywhere to choose their own leaders, to have the kind of democratic institutions that will maximize their individual opportunities." "We are building what I think is a much more persuasive case that the international community -not just the United States - wants to see peaceful change in Syria", she added.
Clinton reiterated that the US is working with allies around the world to increase sanctions on the Syrian regime "but what we really need to do to put the pressure on Assad is to sanction the oil and gas industry, and we want to see Europe take more steps in that direction". "We want to see China take steps with us. We want to see India, because India and China have large energy investments inside of Syria. We want to see Russia cease selling arms to the Assad regime", she added. Clinton noted that "the pressure requires an organized opposition, and there is not one "there is a lot of sort of beginning sprouts of such an opposition. There are local coordination councils around the country. There are very brave Syrians who are standing up and risking their lives, even losing their lives". "There are Syrian opposition figures outside of Syria and inside. But there is no address for the opposition. There is no place that any of us who wish to assist can go. So part of what we've been encouraging and trying to facilitate is for the opposition to become unified", she added.
Asked if the US will sanction the oil and has industries that are involved in Syria, Clinton replied that the "real trick is to convince the Europeans and the Arabs and the Chinese and the Indians and others...but we want others to follow, because Syria was not one of our major economic partners". "We are building the chorus of international condemnation. And rather than us saying it and nobody else following, we think it is important to lead and have others follow as well", she concluded. (end) jm.rk KUNA 121029 Aug 11NNNN