US, UK 'stand against' Assad

beirut (AP):

The United States (US) closed its Syrian embassy and Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus yesterday, in a dramatic new Western push to get President Bashar Assad to leave power as diplomatic efforts to resolve one of the deadliest conflicts of the Arab Spring collapsed.

The moves by the US and Britain were a clear message that Western powers no longer see the point of engaging with Assad as they turn their attention to bolstering Syria's disparate and largely disorganised opposition to form a credible alternative to the current government.

"This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told lawmakers as he recalled his country's ambassador from Syria for consultations on the escalating violence in the country.

"There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally," Hague said.

President Barack Obama said the Syrian leader's departure is only a matter of time, even as the Damascus regime intensified its assault on a revolt that has raged for nearly 11 months.

"The deteriorating security situation that led to the suspension of our diplomatic operations makes clear once more the dangerous path Assad has chosen and the regime's inability to fully control Syria," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.