With the recent massacre in Houla’s sparking widespread condemnation, the Friends of the Syrian People sessions are increasing the pressure on the regime and deepening its isolation.
On her remarks at DC, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said killings at Houla, have exposed the Asad regime’s determination to continue waging war on the Syrian people.
“The international community cannot sit idly by, and we won’t.” -Ms. Clinton
She stresses that sanctions are having an impact: businesses and organizations are cutting their ties with the regime, senior officials responsible for human rights violations have had their funds frozen and their travel curtailed, and we are disrupting the ability of the regime to receive weapons and other supplies.
These sanctions are specifically pointed at members of the regime and its war machine; they do not target the Syrian people and do not apply to supplies of critical goods, Ms. Clinton noted.
She says the regime is causing Syrians to suffer from economic hardship, to deprive them of fuel, cooking oil, and other essentials.
“We have taken important steps, but much work remains.” -Ms. Clinton
She urges the international community to continue to close off the regime’s economic lifelines, expand the circle of countries vigorously implementing sanctions, and prevent the Syrian government from evading them.
The United States welcomes other countries’ views about additional measures that would be effective.
She reiterated that the regime must end the atrocities, comply with all its commitments under the Annan plan, and allow the transition to a democratic Syria to begin.
Earlier this week, with the crisis reaching a “tipping point” after the massacre in the Syrian village of Houla, the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States Kofi Annan warned of the growing sectarian aspect of the crisis in Syria.
Mr. Annan asserted that the conflict is already having serious consequences in the region.
He called on the international community to work together to push for the implementation of the six-point peace plan.
On his remarks before the Arab Ministerial Committee on Syria in Doha, Mr. Annan notes that the crisis is having regional spillover, in the form of tensions and incidents across the border, abductions of nationals and foreigners, and refugee flows to neighbouring states.
Mr. Annan urged President Assad to release detainees, fully open up to international humanitarian assistance, and allow people to express their views freely in peaceful protest to show his seriousness to the Syrian people and the international community.
Mr. Annan travelled to New York today to brief the General Assembly and the Security Council.
Last week, massacre in Syria’s Houla village in the early hours of 26th of May has reportedly killed 108 civilians, including over 30 children.
Reports say artillery and tank shells were fired in the Syrian village killing hundreds of civilians.
The violence took place in and around the town of Houla, near Homs, after an anti-government protest.
The Security Council voiced condemnation of the recent massacre of men, women and children inHoula.
In addition, the United States of America also expressed condemnation in the massacre in the Syrian village of Haoula.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the United Nations observers have confirmed that dozens of men, women, and children were killed and hundreds more wounded in a vicious assault that involved a regime artillery and tank barrage on a residential neighborhood.
She stressed that those who perpetrated this atrocity must be identified and held to account.
And the United States will work with the international community to intensify our pressure on Asad and his cronies, whose rule by murder and fear must come to an end, she added.
The violence in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those witnessed across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 9,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.
Australia has expelled the Syrian Charge d’Affairs and one other diplomat. Other countries followed suit, including Britain, France, Germany and Italy expelling Syrian Ambassadors from their countries.
