Clinton says Russia keeping Syrian president in power

April 11, 2012 – SYRIA – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has vowed to pressure Russia over the Syria crisis, saying its refusal to support action by the United Nations Security Council was keeping President Bashar Assad in power. Mrs. Clinton said the U.S. would again try to persuade Russia, a key Syrian ally, to support action that would at least allow humanitarian access, when foreign ministers of the G-8 meet in Washington. She warned that the danger was rising of regional conflict and civil war flaring from the violence in Syria. Russia’s “refusal to join us in some kind of constructive action is keeping Assad in power, well-armed, able to ignore the demands of his own people, the region and the world,” she said. Her comments came after Syrian troops defied a UN-brokered ceasefire plan on Tuesday, launching fresh attacks on rebellious areas. But UN special envoy Kofi Annan said there was still time to salvage a truce that he described as the only chance for peace. –Belfast Telegraph