(AP-ABC News) Lee Keath and Matthew - The U.S. proposed an international coalition to support Syria's opposition Sunday after Russia and China blocked a UN attempt to end nearly 11 months of bloodshed. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the double veto at the UN Security Council on Saturday "a travesty." "Faced with a neutered Security Council, we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations," she said, calling for "friends of democratic Syria" to unite to "support the Syrian people's right to have a better future." U.S. officials said an alliance would work to further squeeze the Assad regime by stepping up sanctions against it, bringing disparate Syrian opposition groups inside and outside the country together, providing humanitarian relief for embattled Syrian communities and working to prevent an escalation of violence by monitoring arms sales. The main Syrian opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council, backed the idea. (AP-ABC News)
2012-02-07 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive