The United States that leads the Friends of Syria group has called on members of the international community to introduce separate sanctions against the Bashar al-Assad regime to step up pressure on the country’s leadership.
“We have taken important steps, but much work remains. We must 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,” U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton said in a statement posted on the State Department website on Wednesday.
“And we welcome other countries’ views about additional measures that would be effective. The regime must end the atrocities, comply with all its commitments under the [UN and Arab League special envoy Kofi] Annan plan, and allow the transition to a democratic Syria to begin,” she said after a regular meeting of the Friends of Syria sanctions working group.
Over 9,000 people have been killed in clashes between the government and opposition forces in Syria since the start of the uprising against the al-Assad regime, according to UN estimates.
Russia and China have twice vetoed UN Security Council resolutions over what Moscow called a pro-rebel bias since the start of the uprising against al-Assad, but have supported Annan’s peace plan. The veto was meant to prevent the repetition of the “Libyan scenario.” After the veto, the United States gathered the Friends of Syria group to work out joint actions against the al-Assad regime.
Clinton also said 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. It is the regime that is causing Syrians to suffer from economic hardship, to deprive them of fuel, cooking oil, and other essentials,” she said.
Clinton on Wednesday called on China and Russia to apply their influence on Damascus to stop the bloodshed in Syria but said that it must include a political transition from the al-Assad regime.
Moscow insists that both the government and “armed terrorist gangs” operating in Syria should be held responsible for the unrest.
Over 100 people, including dozens of children and women, were killed in Houla in Homs province, in the May 25-26 attack that was one of the deadliest single events since the uprising against al-Assad began in March 2011. Syrian authorities denied involvement, blaming “anti-government armed groups” for the massacre.
