AFP, Washington, 12 Feb 2012 – The United States and its allies are bringing ‘pressure to bear’ on Syria, White House chief of Staff Jacob Lew said Sunday, predicting the efforts would lead to the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
‘Since August, we have been bringing pressure to bear,’ Lew told the Fox News Sunday television program, referring to Syria’s 11-month crackdown on civilian protesters.
‘You see most of the international community come together in that — importantly, the Arab League and our allies,’ he said as Arab and western states planned a fresh bid at the United Nations to put pressure on Assad.
‘There’s a lot of pressure being brought to bear and I think that it’s been effective and it will be effective. This regime will come to an end,’ Lew said.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have drawn up a resolution backing an Arab League plan to end the government crackdown on protests which could be voted on at the UN General Assembly this week.
The move follows Russia and China’s veto of virtually the same resolution at the UN Security Council eight days ago.
Russia and China are expected to oppose the new text but no one can veto resolutions in the 193-nation General Assembly, though they carry less weight.