Not too late for Assad regime to plan change in Syria: Clinton

Washington: Terming reports of opposition gaining ground inside Syria a good news, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said it is still “not too late” for the Assad regime to commence planning transition in Syria. “We do believe it is not too late for the Assad regime to commence with planning for a transition, to find a way that ends violence by beginning the kind of serious discussions that have not occurred to date,” Clinton said yesterday. “We think it’s very important that the opposition fighters, as they get better organised and expand their presence more broadly, send a message that this is for the benefit of all Syrians, not for any group, not to engage in any reprisals and retribution that could lead to even greater violence than currently is taking place,” she said. [caption id=“attachment_389848” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Clinton said it was important to better coordinate the work that was going on in the region. Reuters[/caption] Clinton said it was important to better coordinate the work that was going on in the region, especially with the increasing refugee flows, and asserted that the US was “intently focused” on that. She said Washington was working with countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq to make all those helping for an end to the conflict understand that nobody should seek advantage to the detriment of anyone else inside Syria. “We obviously spent a good amount of time working to find a way that Russia and China could move forward with us in the Security Council. That is on the far backburner right now. So when I say we are doing more, we have moved our efforts into other arenas and with other partners,” she said. Clinton, however, said US would still like to see the Security Council act as it thinks this would be certainly “to the benefit of the people of Syria” and also to “the credit of the Security Council.” She added that if the Council fails to act, the US will “intensify its efforts” with groups like the Arab League, Friends of Syria, UN Commission of Inquiry, the Sanctions Working Group, the neighbouring countries, the justice and accountability unit it is starting and all the other elements not affected by the failure to act in the Security Council. “Over the weekend, one of the opposition’s military leaders announced that they would be engaged in an all out effort to take over Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria,” Clinton said, noting that the pace of events was accelerating inside the country. “So what we are trying to do with our like-minded friends is to continue pressuring the regime, continue pushing for humanitarian relief, because the flow of refugees is increasing,” she said. Clinton criticised Russia and China for their stand on Syria in UN Security Council, accusing them of “undermining” Council’s action by exercising their third double veto. “We obviously would have preferred doing all of this under a UN umbrella. Unfortunately, those who are still supporting Assad undermined Security Council action. Russia and China exercised their third double veto. So we are working outside of the UN Security Council to send a clear message of support for the opposition,” she said. Clinton said US was “sending a very clear message about the international community’s rejection of any effort by the Assad regime to use chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.” US would “work closely” with the opposition to create “safe haven” inside Syria for “providing a base” to it for its further actions, she said, adding that Washington was also providing the opposition “important” non-lethal assistance, crucial in terms of communication and medical support. “And so the opposition has to be prepared. They have to start working on interim governing entities. They have to commit to protecting the rights of every group of Syrians,” Clinton said. Underlining responsibilities of the opposition forces, the Secretary of State said the forces not only need to “set up” humanitarian response efforts, but also safeguard the chemical and biological weapons “possessed” by Syrian regime. PTI