Assad has missed chance for reform: Obama

by Rao Muhammad Aftab Sun Sep 18, 2011 3:52 pm

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WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had ‘lost legitimacy’ for failing to lead a democratic transition, but stopped short of explicitly calling on him to step down.

It was the strongest language Obama has used against the Syrian ruler over his harsh crackdown on protests and echoed comments by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a day earlier.

"I think that increasingly you're seeing President Assad lose legitimacy in the eyes of his people," Obama told in an interview. "He has missed opportunity after opportunity to present a genuine reform agenda."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Assad "is not indispensable" and urged him to lead a transition to democracy.

The sharpened rhetoric follows an assault by Assad loyalists on the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus, which drew strong condemnation by the United Nations Security Council.

Pressed on why Obama has not gone further and urged Assad to leave office, Carney told reporters: "There's really a growing consensus among the Syrian people that this transition needs to take place and that President Assad is not going to lead it ... The Syrian people will, should, be able to decide their own future."

The Obama administration has reacted cautiously to the Syrian government crackdown after working for the past two years to try to woo Damascus away from its alliance with Tehran, and remains mindful of the limits of its influence.

"We've made that clear to the Syrian government, that it is their responsibility ... to provide security for and to maintain security for foreign embassies," Carney said.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford, had met with Syria's deputy foreign minister for talks with "a much more collaborative tone."

Syria has accused the United States and France of distorting and exaggerating facts about the embassy attacks. (Reuters)