Is Assad losing Syria? As concerns grow, US urges halt to 'intimidation.'

A realization appears to be growing in the West and the Middle East that Assad's regime is falling apart amid its crackdown on dissent. The State Department urges him to accept political dialogue.

Washington

The United States turned the rhetorical heat on Syria up a notch Tuesday ? as sentiment grows among Western and regional powers that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is gradually doing himself in.

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With the Assad regime?s forces encircling the opposition stronghold of Hama Tuesday and reported to have caused at least six more civilian deaths there, the State Department said the US is ?very concerned? about continuing and spreading violence that is taking Syria ?in the wrong direction.?

The US is urging the Syrian government to ?immediately halt its intimidation and arrest campaign? and to proceed with the political dialogue President Assad has promised, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters.

Noting that as recently as last week Hama was a ?positive example? of how political expression could proceed, Ms. Nuland referred to the weekend violence there and added, ?We are going in the wrong direction.?

Hama remains an international symbol of the Assad regime?s history of violent repression, since it was there that the current ruler?s father, Hafez al-Assad, put down a 1982 insurrection by killing at least 10,000 of the city?s residents.

The State Department comments reflect what appears to be a dawning realization among a number of international powers, including the US, that a regime until recently thought likely to weather the protest storms ? and which was assumed to still have time to right its ship ? may indeed be falling apart. About 1,500 people have been killed in Syria since the protests began.

Syria?s abandonment by some traditional allies, including Turkey and Gulf states, plus the sight of continuing and even growing protests despite intense repression, have some European capitals reconsidering assumptions about Assad?s survivability.

?People think at least that things are never going to be the same for [Assad],? says one European official, adding that the perception is growing that Assad is losing control. ?What has impressed people is that even after a violent crackdown, [Assad] is confronted with huge protests,? the official adds.

The US has stopped short of calling on Assad to step down from power, in part reflecting the deep concerns of some US allies in the region ? first among them Israel ? that a Syria without Assad would be an even bigger problem.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/XXSocX-bHME/Is-Assad-losing-Syria-As-concerns-grow-US-urges-halt-to-intimidation.

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