Obama Calls on Syria's Assad to Step Down, Freezes Assets

Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- President Obama on Thursday called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, as his crackdown on the country's anti-government uprising continues to escalate.

"The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way," Obama said in a statement. "His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people...”

“For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside."

The European Union is also urging Assad to resign amid a mounting crackdown on the revolt. The leaders of France, Britain and Germany issued a statement Thursday saying Assad should "leave power in the greater interests of Syria and the unity of his people."

The White House also announced a new executive order requiring the "immediate freeze of all assets of the government of Syria subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in any transaction involving the government of Syria."

At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council Thursday, the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay is expected to suggest that the Security Council refer Assad to the International Criminal Court for his role in the violence.

The Obama administration has been reluctant to call on Assad to step down because the next question would be what it plans to do about it. The recent experience in Libya, where similar calls from the United States and others have been ignored, has also led some to urge caution.

As violence has increased in recent weeks, beginning with the military's siege on the restive city of Hama and then spreading to other cities, the White House decided it was time to take the next step.  

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