Archive for July 6, 2012

Clinton says Syria defectors voting with their feet; Russia slams U.S. criticism

By Al Arabiya with Agencies

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday an increasing stream of defectors from the Syrian army, including a Syrian general who had been close to President Bashar al-Assad, showed the situation was shifting in the country.

“If people like him, and like the generals and colonels and others who have recently defected to Turkey are any indication, regime insiders and the military establishment are starting to vote with their feet,” Clinton told reporters in Paris, Reuters reported.

Clinton earlier urged world powers at the “Friends of Syria” meeting to show Russia and China they would pay a price for impeding progress towards a democratic transition in Syria. Participants in the meeting were cheered by reports of the defection of army general Manaf Tlas.

The head of the main opposition Syrian National Council hailed Friday the defection of Tlas and said they wanted to work with him.

“This is a major blow to the Assad regime,” Abdul Basset Seyda told journalists at a meeting in Paris. “We cannot comment where he is. We are going to seek some cooperation with him. We call for other defections,” he said, according to AFP.

via Clinton says Syria defectors voting with their feet; Russia slams U.S. criticism.