Obama, Cameron Pledge More Pressure for Syrian Transition

14 March 2012

During his meeting with Assad, Kofi Annan (above) reportedly said the Syrian leader's "realistic response is to embrace change and reform.”" alt="Close-up of Kofi Annan (AP Images)

President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron said the United States and the United Kingdom will continue working together toward a peaceful solution and political transition in Syria and to support U.N. and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan’s diplomatic efforts to end the violence there.

Speaking at the White House March 14 during Cameron’s visit to Washington, Obama said both countries are focused on getting humanitarian aid to Syrians while also “increasing the pressure on the regime, mobilizing the international community, tightening sanctions, cutting the regime's revenues, isolating it politically, diplomatically and economically.”

Bashar al-Assad’s regime and security forces are continuing to see defections, while the political opposition in the country continues to grow stronger, Obama said.

“Assad will leave power. It's not a question of if but when. And to prepare for that day, we'll continue to support plans for a transition to support the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people,” he said.

The president said Assad’s brutal tactics against his people are “contrary to every international norm that we believe in.” The United States supports Annan’s talks with U.N. Security Council members Russia and China as well as others “about why it is that they need to stand up on behalf of people who are being shelled mercilessly and to describe to them why it is in their interest to join us in a unified international coalition,” Obama said. “That's the most important work that we can do right now.”

Cameron said what the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries want is “the quickest way to stop the killing,” and he said that would come through political transition rather than through a revolution or civil war.

“But if Assad continues, then civil war or revolution is the inevitable consequence. So we will work with anyone who is ready to build a stable, inclusive and democratic Syria for all Syrians,” Cameron said.

According to a March 14 press report issued by the United Nations, Annan received a response from the Assad regime concerning issues he had raised March 11 during his visit to Syria, but Annan’s spokesperson reported that he is seeking further clarifications from Syrian authorities.

Annan, formerly the U.N. secretary-general, “has questions and is seeking answers,” and “given the grave and tragic situation on the ground, everyone must realize that time is of the essence,” his spokesperson said in a statement, adding that the crisis in Syria “cannot be allowed to drag on,” according to the U.N. press report.

During his meeting with Assad, Annan reportedly urged the Syrian leader to “heed the old African proverb: ‘You cannot turn the wind, so turn the sail,’” and he said that for Assad, “the realistic response is to embrace change and reform.”

Reforms will help build a “peaceful, stable, pluralistic and prosperous society, based on the rule of law and respect for human rights,” Annan said, according to the U.N. press report.

At the State Department, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters March 14 that as an envoy Annan “has unique standing as a former secretary-general” and that he has had “past successes dealing with very, very tough characters.”

The Obama administration is waiting for the conclusion of the current round of Annan’s diplomatic efforts. Nuland said he is planning to return to New York March 16 and report to the United Nations.

“We look forward to hearing his conclusions then,” Nuland said. "We need to let him finish this round of diplomacy, come report at the Security Council and then see what we can all do together, moving forward, to keep the pressure on.”