US President Barack Obama is reportedly planning to call on Syria's embattled leader Bashar al-Assad to step down.
The White House is planning on demanding Assad's departure and slapping the regime with new sanctions targeted at individuals in the regime and Syrian government financ, the Telegraph reports.
An administration official did not comment on the report, but stressed that 'Syria would be a better place without Assad'.
"We've previously said Syria would be a better place without Assad, that we believe his regime will be left in the past, and that Assad is on his way out," the administration official said.
"We've also previously indicated that we'd continue to increase pressures, including possible sanctions," the official added.
The Obama administration has been criticized earlier for failing to demand Assad's departure, but continued violence by the regime against protesters has brought a change of approach.
A spokesperson for the State Department recently conceded that Washington had abandoned its bid to engage Damascus.
"In the case of Syria, the message from 2009 was if you are prepared to be a reformer, if you are prepared to work with us on Middle East peace and other issues we share, we can have a new and different kind of partnership," the paper quoted Victoria Nuland.
"But that is not the path that Assad chose," Nuland added.
Poster Comment:
Not sure about the source...they also have-
Obama denies 'email relationship' with Scarlett Johansson
Washington
Thu, 26 Jun 2008:
U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama has downplayed his "email relationship" with Scarlett Johansson, saying that the actress does not even have his personal e-mail address.
The reason for the hopeful candidate issuing a statement about it was because earlier this month, Johsson claimed to have had a "personal dialogue" with Obama.
"You'd imagine that someone like the senator who is constantly traveling and constantly 'on' - how can he return these personal emails?" Us Magazine quoted her as having told Politico.
"But he does, and in his off-time I know he also calls people who have donated the minimum to thank them," she said.
But Obama had a different tale to tell reporters on June 24.
"She sent one email to [my assistant] Reggie [Love], who forwarded it to me," he said.
"I [wrote] saying, 'Thank you Scarlett for doing what you do,' and suddenly we have this email relationship," he added.
