Syrian general who was a personal friend of Bashar al-Assad fled for France

As a Syrian general who was a personal friend of Bashar al-Assad fled for France, Hillary Clinton urged Assad’s enemies meeting in Paris on Friday to make Russia and China“pay a price” for helping keep him power in Damascus.

The Secretary of State’s remark, among Washington’s toughest yet in 16 months of revolt, highlighted the gulf between Western and Arab countries, who met opposition groups in Paris to try to engineer Assad’s departure, and his two supporters on the other side of the old Cold War divide, who stayed away from the talks.

“I will tell you very frankly,” Clinton told the Friends of the Syrian People conference, “I don’t think Russia and China believe they are paying any price at all – nothing at all – for standing up on behalf of the Assad regime. The only way that will change is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price because they are holding up progress – blockading it.

“That is no longer tolerable.”

The foreign ministers and senior diplomats from 50 Western, Arab and other countries – including Assad’s former ally and neighbor turned bitter foe Turkey – urged stronger U.N. Security Council action and “broader and tougher” sanctions.

They also agreed to “massively increase” aid to Syria’s rebels and to provide them with communications equipment, according to a final statement. Western powers are reluctant to offer much greater firepower to rebels whose ranks include anti-Western Islamists. Divisions among Assad’s foes, visible notably in a fistfight at an opposition meeting in Cairo this week, have also limited the coordination of efforts to remove him by force.

Over 100 delegations from national governments and regional and international organisations ended a meeting of the Friends of Syria Friday and vowed to continue to work to end Syrian conflict and pressure the current regime to step down.

Frustrated by the inflexibility of Bashar Al-Assad and his supporters, the conference urged that “reinforced action” be taken in the UN Security Council to pressure Syria with a Chapter VII resolution and make it comply with international efforts to halt the repression.

Conference Chairman, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, said at a press conference that it was agreed by “the vast majority” of participants that Al-Assad must go.

In addition, there is growing momentum for “the urgent adoption” of a UN Security Resolution under Chapter VII, which would allow all necessary means to be employed to force its implementation, if necessary.

Participants also stressed that there should be “no impunity” for crimes committed in the 17-month-old conflict that has left almost 17,000 dead and many more wounded, imprisoned and tortured.

Fabius said that it was agreed to “gather proof” of crimes against humanity and pursue those responsible for “crimes against humanity.” Also, the conference urged tougher sanctions against the regime in Damascus, noting these sanctions should be “generalized.” Efforts will also be made to bolster the internal opposition in Syria and support “democratic opposition” groups and “local support networks.” Paris was the third “Friends of Syria” meeting since February and a fourth meeting has been agreed and will be held in Morocco at an unspecified date.

The French Minister said he believed there would be even more participants at the next meeting in view of the evolution of the process.

Fabius stressed the need for Bashar Al-Assad to step down, having earlier called him “a murderer” and a perpetrator of “massacres.” “Half of the world is saying (here today) that it doesn’t want the regime of Bashar Al-Assad any more,” Fabius said in concluding remarks.

“The fight continues. The action is far from finished,” he cautioned.”The sooner Bashar Al-Assad leaves power, the better it will be,” he remarked.