Obama wants ‘every tool available’ to stop Syria killing

President Barack Obama AFP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Friday he wants “every tool available” to stop the “slaughter” of civilians in Syria, as he backed an international meeting on the crisis.

Obama, speaking at the White House, said he was “encouraged by the international unity” displayed at a meeting on Syria in Tunisia, with more than 60 foreign ministers gathering to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has launched a deadly crackdown against opponents.

“We’re going to continue to keep the pressure up and look for every tool available to prevent the slaughter of innocents in Syria,” Obama told reporters.

“It’s important that we’re not bystanders during these extraordinary events,” he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, attending the first meeting of the “Friends of Syria” in Tunisia on Friday, warned that Assad would pay a “heavy cost” for ignoring the will of the international community after almost a year of brutal crackdowns on protesters.

“The Assad regime has ignored every warning, squandered every opportunity, and broken every agreement,” she said. “Faced with determined protesters demanding their rights and their dignity, the regime is creating an appalling humanitarian disaster.”

Clinton also announced $10 million in aid for humanitarian efforts in Syria.

The Assad regime’s “escalating violence in Syria is an affront to the international community, a threat to regional security, and a grave violation of universal human rights,” said Clinton.

More than 7,600 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad’s rule erupted last March, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

At least 39 more people were killed Friday as the ministers met in Tunisia, two days before Syrians vote on a new constitution that could end 50 years of Baath Party rule though keep wide powers with the president.

Tunisia called for an Arab peacekeeping force to be sent in to help end the killings, and for Assad to be granted immunity to persuade him to stand down.

The group called for the Assad regime to “immediately cease all violence” to allow humanitarian access and “committed to take steps to apply and enforce restrictions and sanctions on the regime.”

In the first sign that growing pressure might be having an effect, Red Cross and Red Crescent ambulances entered the besieged Homs district of Baba Amr and evacuated seven Syrians wounded in bombardment by regime forces.

But the ambulances had not yet evacuated two wounded Western journalists and the bodies of two others.