Channels

Kerry warns Assad to start transition by Aug. 1 - or else

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry warned Syria's government and its backers in Moscow and Tehran on Tuesday that they face an August deadline for starting a political transition to move President Bashar Assad out, or they risk the consequences of a new US approach toward ending the 5-year-old civil war.

 

But given the various, unfulfilled US threats throughout the Arab country's conflict - from declaring Assad's days "numbered" five years ago to promising military action if chemical weapons were used - it was unclear what effect Kerry's ultimatum might have.

 

And it's unlikely that the Obama administration, so long opposed to an active American combat role in Syria, would significantly boost its presence beyond the 300 special forces it has authorized thus far in the heart of a US presidential election season. More feasible might be US allies like Saudi Arabia giving the rebels new weapons to fight Assad, such as portable surface-to-air missiles.

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.03.16, 23:54