France’s president said Friday that only the departure of Bashar Assad would end the violence in Syria, saying his regime had acted in an “intolerable way”.
Francois Hollande, who was elected in May, again advocated for pressure and sanctions to force out the Syrian leader, continuing France’s tough line on the country, where an anti-government uprising has raged for more than a year.
“The regime of Bashar Assad has conducted itself in an unacceptable, intolerable way and has committed acts that disqualify it” from power, Mr. Hollande said after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syria’s principal backer and protector.
“There is no possible exit from this situation except with the departure of Bashar Assad,” he added.
International pressure is mounting on Syria, including condemnation Friday from the United Nation’s top human rights body for the massacre last week of more than 100 civilians, apparently at the hands of government troops and pro-regime thugs.
“Sanctions are part of the indispensable and necessary pressure,” Mr. Hollande added, while recognising that the country is hurtling toward civil war.
In March, the U.N. put the death toll from the uprising and crackdown at 9,000, but many hundreds more have died since.
Mr. Putin ducked a question about sanctions, saying that they were “still not effective”.
“We want to reduce the violence to the minimum,” he said. “We are not for Bashar Assad or for his adversaries. We want to arrive at a situation where the violence is ended and the possibility of a civil war is completely avoided.”
Russia, along with China, has twice shielded Mr. Assad’s regime from U.N. sanctions over his crackdown on protests.
The two were among the few countries that voted against Friday’s resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council, condemning the massacre in the cluster of villages known as Houla.
Moscow has also backed the Syrian government’s conclusion that “extremists” and “militants” words Damascus uses to refer to rebel fighters were behind the killings.
According to preliminary U.N. investigations, at least 49 children under the age of 10 were among the dead with entire families apparently executed in their homes. U.N. investigators have said there is strong evidence that pro-regime fighters were behind the massacre.
Friday’s resolution instructs an expert panel to conduct an “international, transparent, independent and prompt investigation” and echoes calls by U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay for the U.N. Security Council to consider referring Syria to the International Criminal Court.
On his first trip abroad since returning to the presidency, Mr. Putin told reporters in Germany that he still believed a political solution in Syria was possible. “It requires a certain professionalism and patience,” he said.
Keywords: UNHRC, Syria unrest, El-Houleh killing, Kofi Annan Plan, Bashar Assad regime, UNSC sanctions
Mr. HOllande has Qaddafis exit ended the violenece in Libya or Saddams exit ended the violence in Iraq? really do you expect the common man tobe that stupid? be realistic all these regime changes are merely to realign oil contracts to suit western nations only, this is barbarianism at its best.
Mr Putin is talking nonsense when he says that nothing needs to be done about Syria. Diplomacy has its limits. Sanctions are opposed by Russia and China, both of which give a damn about human rights or freedom. The UN suffers structurally from some inherent defects because of which it is unable to handle a situation like Syria, which is clearly the result of excesses and incompetence of the regime led by President Bashar Al Assad over a long period. If this is how Mr Putin is going to act during his second innings as Russian president, then the world has to despair of anything right ever emanating from Moscow.
Perhaps it may be possible to consider an alternative like training willing Syrians outside Syria – perhaps in France – and send them back to Syria, properly armed, to take on the murderers of President Bashar Al Assad.
It seems no direct military intervention from outside is likely in the prevailing circumstances.
The Massacre in Houla was a conspiracy by the U.S. and Israel,take a step back in History and remember what the great Roman Orator Cicero said when he stated Cui Bono which is Latin for who benefits. Israel and the U.S. benefits most from a Syrian downfall, and they are the ones that did this. If you want to talk about a massacre why don't you talk about how the Israelis facilitated the massacre of 3,500 Palstinians at the Shatilla and Sabra refugee camps in Bierut in 1982 during the Lebanese Civil war. How can someone from a classical civilization such as India be so blind to this evil political Intrigue perpetated by a Barbaric country like America that has only been in existence for 236 years that was started by committing genocide against 10,000,000 indigenous people who they ironically called Indians, and put the rest in a glorified concentration camp, and the same with Israel who have done the same thing to the Palestinians.
UN and its member states have to condemn the heinous crime of killing children and women and look for a political solution and make sure civil war is avoided. It's Major ally Russia has to impose sanctions to bring syria to its knees and help it restore democracy by dethroning it's president bashar al asad
To claim that only President Assads exit will solve the present
unrest there is to simplify a problem beyond all reason.It is supposing or assuming that either he is the fount of all evil or that he leads a cabal of evil men.That is untrue and misleading.The problem is maybe I come from a college and that we are from a Syrian Christian Community and my heartfelt feeling is that the people there should learn that violence will only engender more violence and that they should tolerate the shortcomings of their neighbours and try to live in peace and harmony and technology will change their life and not being part of one religious group or other.
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