WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) — The United States said on Wednesday that it has nothing invested in Bashar Assad remaining in power, calling the Syrian president «the cause of instability» in his country.
«As we have stated, President Assad is not indispensable and the U.S. has nothing invested in Assad remaining in power. We do not want to see him remain in Syria for stability’s sake and, rather, we view him as the cause of instability in Syria,» White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a regular news briefing.
In the latest development, the U.S. and other Western nations are condemning Syria’s crackdown on protesters in Hama and other towns. The Syrian authorities said that hundreds of policemen and security officers were killed and many others wounded by armed groups, which the authorities blamed for the four-month unrest in the country.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Tuesday with U.S.- based Syrian activists as the Obama administration is weighing new sanctions on Syria.
Carney said that the U.S. will continue to look at ways to take further steps to put pressure on the Assad regime to «end its violence.»
«And we think, frankly, that it’s safe to say that Syria would be a better place without President Assad,» he added.
Suerce: news.xinhuanet.com