US and allies exploring prospects for Assad exile

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America

Saturday, 04 February 2012

Author / Source : reuters

WASHINGTON, Feb 3: The United States, European governments and Arab states have begun discussing the possibility of exile for Bashar al-Assad despite skepticism the defiant Syrian president is ready to consider such an offer, Western officials said on Wednesday. While talks have not progressed far and there is no real sense that Assad’s fall is imminent, one official said as many as three countries were willing to take him as a way to bring an end to Syria’s bloody 10-month-old crisis.
Two sources said no European states were prepared to give Assad sanctuary, but one official said the United Arab Emirates might be among those open to the idea.
Talk of exile has surfaced amid mounting international pressure on Assad and a diplomatic showdown over a proposed Arab League resolution at the United Nations aimed at getting him to transfer power. He has responded by stepping up assaults on opposition strongholds.
With the White House insisting for weeks that Assad’s days in power are numbered, it was unclear whether this marks an attempt to persuade the Syrian leader and his family to grasp the chance of a safe exit instead of risking the fate of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, who was hunted and killed by rebels last year.
But with Assad showing he remains in charge of a powerful security apparatus and the Syrian opposition fragmented militarily, it could also be an effort to step up psychological pressure and open new cracks in his inner circle.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said neither the United States nor the European Union had taken the lead on the idea, which has been advocated by Arab nations as a way to try to end the violence in Syria.
“We understand that some countries have offered to host him should he choose to leave Syria,” a senior Obama administration official said, without naming any of the countries.
Another report adds: UN diplomats said Thursday they had come up with a new draft resolution condemning deadly violence in Syria that would now be sent back to their respective governments for further deliberations.
The new text emerged after hours of talks stalled in the UN Security Council. It was not immediately known how the draft resolution differed from previous versions.
“Everyone will seek instructions from their capitals and we hope to be able to vote as soon as possible,” Britain’s UN ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, said.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the decision to send a draft back to governments “does not prejudge in any way” whether or not approval was likely.
The US ambassador, Susan Rice, also played down expectations, saying: “We are still not there.”
“There are still some complicated issues that our capitals will have to deliberate on and provide us with instructions,” she said.     Reuters