Americas

Americas

US seeks Assadâ€™s removal from power: Obama

24 July 2012 03:44 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. US President Barack Obama has once again reiterated that Washington seeks President Bashar al-Assadâ€™s removal from power, APA reports quoting Press TV.

â€œToday, weâ€™re also working for a transition so the Syrian people can have a better future, free of the Assad regime,â€ Obama in a speech to US veterans in the western state of Nevada on Monday.

Obama also noted that the United States has begun a new era of leadership in the world, pointing out that the US is leading the world from Europe to Asia-Pacific region and has several plans for the Middle East and North Africa.

â€œWeâ€™re leading on behalf of freedom -- standing with people in the Middle East and North Africa as they demand their rights,â€ the US president added.

Obama also warned Damascus not to use its chemical weapons in any circumstances.

In a new offensive against Damascus, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor and several Western media claimed that the Syrian government possesses and intends to use chemical weapons.

Syria has dismissed allegations that it intends to use chemical weapons to end months of unrest, stressing that it will never use weapons of mass destruction against its own people.

Without confirming the existence of chemical stockpiles, Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said on Monday that if Damascus possessed chemical weapons they would be used in response to any "external aggression" and not during the internal conflict.

"Syria will not use any chemical or other unconventional weapons against its civilians, and will only use them in case of external aggression," Makdissi told a media conference in the Syrian capital.

The allegations by the US official are believed to be the first attempts at orchestrating an Iraq-like scenario against Syria.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said removing Assad from power would cause a civil war in the violence-hit country.

Putin also said that Assadâ€™s ouster would be unconstitutional and "a civil war will stretch on for who knows how long."

Last week, Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed UN Security Council draft resolution against Syria, which called for new sanctions against the Syrian government under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

It is the third time that the two world powers block an anti-Damascus resolution since the beginning of unrest in Syria.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of President Bashar al-Assadâ€™s government.

The Syrian government says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

Damascus also says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country and the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.