Bashar al-Assad

Obama Steps Up Pressure On Syrian Leader To Resign

Susan Crabtree | August 18, 2011, 10:12AM

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad

President Obama on Thursday issued his most explicit call to date for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down from power after months of the Syrian leader's brutal assaults on peaceful pro-reform protestors.

In a written statement, Obama urged Assad to resign and announced a host of new sanctions against the Syrian government. Previously, the President and the administration had said only that Assad had lost all credibility to rule Syria.

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