Main focus of Friday, August 19, 2011

West wants Assad's resignation

For the first time the US and several states of the EU on Thursday called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resign. The US government also stepped up its sanctions against the regime. The West is finally reassuming its responsibility in the region, the press writes, and calls for Assad to be brought before the International Court of Justice.

La Stampa - Italy

With its calls for the resignation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the West is showing more decisiveness in the region again, writes the liberal daily La Stampa: "For the past few months the political leaders have been almost entirely overpowered by a wave of unpredictable events. ... A West that focuses solely on itself basically means a political vacuum in all those regions of the world where it was previously active, first and foremost the Middle East. ... Thanks to the West's inability to seize the initiative, the Syrian crisis has been able to explode and profit from this lack of resolve. ... Two weeks ago Saudi Arabia broke its diplomatic silence, and Turkey took the same path. With yesterday's declaration the West has now also followed suit. ... But we're still far from a solution to the conflict, because the best ally of terror is a political vacuum." (19/08/2011)

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Le Temps - Switzerland

The West has finally condemned the crimes of the Syrian regime, the liberal-conservative daily Le Temps writes, and calls for the matter to be brought before the International Court of Justice: "In the past five months of promises and a bloody campaign against those they call 'terrorists' Bashar al-Assad's henchmen have presumably committed crimes against humanity. The confirmation of this reality after months of hesitation due to short-term geopolitical interests should come as very good news to the courageous opponents of the regime. ... We must now consider bringing charges at the International Court of Justice. The members of the UN Security Council must finally shoulder responsibility. That includes its recalcitrant members - including Russia, which continues to supply Damascus with arms. And the non-permanent members, Brazil, India and South Africa, must overcome their reservations and lend the Syrians a hand." (19/08/2011)

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Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany

The brutality of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has only isolated him internationally, the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: "Arab countries are turning their backs on him, above all Saudi Arabia. And Turkey doesn't want to see its own reputation suffer because of this 'partner'. Syria's only remaining ally is Iran, a country whose regime also has much blood on its hands from quashing protests. At last even President Obama has found the right words: Bashar al-Assad's time is up, 'reforms' can no longer save him politically. The protests against the Syrian dictatorship started in March, tanks and torture have proved unable to quell them. The sanctions Obama now talks of are to be unprecedented - or so we hope. The noose around Assad's regime must be pulled tight, and quick." (19/08/2011)

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