Thứ Ba, 23 tháng 8, 2011

The U.S. embassy in Vietnam voiced concern on Tuesday about the detention ...

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  • Plainclothes policemen push a protester (L, in red) into a police bus during an anti-China demonstration in Hanoi August 21, 2011. REUTERS/Tu Quang
    Plainclothes policemen push a protester (L, in red) into a police bus during an anti-China …
HANOI (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Vietnam voiced concern on Tuesday about the detention of dozens of people who held an anti-China protest on Sunday, saying the action breached Vietnam's treaty obligations.
Fifty people were rounded up in connection with the peaceful demonstration, the eleventh such protest in Hanoi since early June. The demonstrators are angry about what they see as infringements on Vietnam's sovereignty in the South China Sea by China.
"We are concerned by the detention of several individuals for what appears to be the peaceful expression of their views. No individual should be detained for exercising the right to peacefully assemble," an embassy spokesman said.
"This contradicts Vietnam's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. We call on the Vietnamese government to release all individuals detained for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms."
Police quickly forced the demonstrators onto buses in rainy central Hanoi on Sunday morning after they ignored a government order to stop the rallies. The Hanoi government said the demonstrations were complicating Vietnam's diplomatic efforts, and marring the city's image.
The newspaper Hanoi Moi reported on Monday that 50 people had been detained in connection with the protests and that all but eight had been released.
Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia all have claims of sovereignty over portions of the South China Sea that have sparked naval clashes in the past.
(Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Remarks on the Situation in Syria
Message: 7
From: U.S. Department of State <usstatebpa@subscriptions.fcg.gov>
Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:35:37 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Democracy, Human Rights, Refugees: Remarks on the Situation in Syria

Democracy, Human Rights, Refugees: Remarks on the Situation in Syria
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:13:59 -0500

Remarks on the Situation in Syria


Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
August 18, 2011



Date: 08/18/2011 Description: Secretary Clinton speaking on Syria before the press at the State Department. - State Dept Image
SECRETARY CLINTON: Good morning. For months, the world has borne witness to the Asad regime’s contempt for its own people. In peaceful demonstrations across the nation, Syrians are demanding their universal human rights. The regime has answered their demands with empty promises and horrific violence, torturing opposition leaders, laying siege to cities, slaughtering thousands of unarmed civilians, including children.
The Asad government has now been condemned by countries in all parts of the world and can look only to Iran for support for its brutal and unjust crackdown.
This morning, President Obama called on Asad to step aside and announced the strongest set of sanctions to date targeting the Syrian Government. These sanctions include the energy sector to increase pressure on the regime. The transition to democracy in Syria has begun, and it’s time for Asad to get out of the way.
As President Obama said this morning, no outside power can or should impose on this transition. It is up to the Syrian people to choose their own leaders in a democratic system based on the rule of law and dedicated to protecting the rights of all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sect, or gender.
We understand the strong desire of the Syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle, and we respect their wishes. At the same time, we will do our part to support their aspirations for a Syria that is democratic, just, and inclusive. And we will stand up for their universal rights and dignity by pressuring the regime and Asad personally to get out of the way of this transition.
All along, as we have worked to expand the circle of global condemnation, we have backed up our words with actions. As I’ve repeatedly said, it does take both words and actions to produce results. Since the unrest began, we have imposed strong financial sanctions on Asad and dozens of his cronies. We have sanctioned the Commercial Bank of Syria for supporting the regime’s illicit nuclear proliferation activities. And we have led multilateral efforts to isolate the regime, from keeping them off the Human Rights Council, to achieving a strong presidential statement of condemnation at the UN Security Council.
The steps that President Obama announced this morning will further tighten the circle of isolation around the regime. His executive order immediately freezes all assets of the Government of Syria that are subject to American jurisdiction and prohibits American citizens from engaging in any transactions with the Government of Syria or investing in that country. These actions strike at the heart of the regime by banning American imports of Syrian petroleum and petroleum products and prohibiting Americans from dealing in these products.
And as we increase pressure on the Asad regime to disrupt its ability to finance its campaign of violence, we will take steps to mitigate any unintended effects of the sanctions on the Syrian people. We will also continue to work with the international community, because if the Syrian people are to achieve their goals, other nations will have to provide support and take actions as well.
In just the past two weeks, many of Syria’s own neighbors and partners in the region have joined the chorus of condemnation. We expect that they and other members of the international community will amplify the steps we are taking both through their words and their actions.
We are heartened that, later today, the UN Security Council will meet again to discuss this ongoing threat to international peace and stability. We are also working to schedule a special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council that will examine the regime’s widespread abuses. Earlier this week, I explained how the United States has been engaged in a relentless and systematic effort with the international community, pursuing a set of actions and statements that make crystal clear where we all stand, and generating broader and deeper pressure on the Asad regime.
The people of Syria deserve a government that respects their dignity, protects their rights, and lives up to their aspirations. Asad is standing in their way. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for him to step aside and leave this transition to the Syrians themselves, and that is what we will continue to work to achieve.
Thank you all very much.


PRN: 2011/1342


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Chủ Nhật, 21 tháng 8, 2011

Thư gi Ngoi Trưởng Hoa K Hillary R. Clinton

The Vietnamese American Community of Northern California (VAC-NORCAL)
PO Box 391063
Mountain View, CA 94039
(408) 242-4056
Nguyenngoctien_6@yahoo.com

24 August 2011

The U.S. Department of State
Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Dear Secretary:
On behalf of the Vietnamese American community of Northern California, all Vietnamese people whose signatures are hereby attached in Annex A, all political prisoners being held in many prisons in Vietnam and all the Vietnamese people who do not have an opportunity to raise their voice to the world community, we would like to say many thanks to the Secretary for sparing your precious time reading this letter and the Petition we send to the President asking him to support the Vietnamese people for the democracy, freedom and human rights in Vietnam.
Dear Secretary,
Our country has been undergoing so many tragedies from inside to outside. Inside our country the lands and mountains in the northern border land were lost to the hands of the North after the Sino-Vietnamese war in 1979. In 2002, the Gulf of Tonkin was delimited unfairly, inappropriate to the UNCLOS international law of the sea, and without the consent of our people causing the loss of tens of thousands of sea mileage and damages to the Vietnamese people living conditions. To the East Sea, the Chinese navy attacked and seized the Paracels on 19 January 1974 and built up their navy and air support base in the Woodland Island. After that the Chinese navy moved further to the South and massacred more than 70 Vietnamese people on the reef of Garma of the Spratlys archipelago on 14 March 1988. Since 2005 the Chinese navy became the ruler in the East Sea, they themselves banned the Vietnamese fishermen to fish in the East Sea from 15 June to mid August every year; as a result, they killed, shot at the Vietnamese fishermen, beat them, tortured them and kidnapped them for ransom. Today, the situation is more critical because the Chinese navy comes close to our internal sea and requests their unreasonable and unlawful nine-lined sea border, their so called cow-tongued sea limit in the East Sea. Inside Indochina, China built dams on upper Mekong River in Xayaburi province of Laos in order to hold water from the upper stream of Mekong river causing loss of water to irrigate the paddy fields. In central highland of Vietnam the communist Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung allowed tens of thousands of unidentified laborers to reside to work for bauxite factories that contaminate the ecological system as the red silt can cause unpredictable dangers to more than twenty million Vietnamese living in the delta of the Mekong River. The number of the unidentified strangers residing inside Vietnam now may be about 1.3 million, and they can enter Vietnam freely by the trails along the corridor of the Indochinese countries.
We know that the Secretary is so busy with the important national issues as well as the global problems and the family that are weighing on your shoulders, but we want to describe the broken-heart pains of our country so that you understand that more than 80 million Vietnamese people desire the freedom, the democracy and the human rights for their self determining the fate of our country before it totally collapses and becomes a second Tibet in Asia. Certainly, nobody will expect that worst situation happen; however, if that becomes true, not only will our Vietnamese people feel pains, but also will the US regret as they did not predict the impending tragedy and did not fulfill the responsibility of a pioneer country who used to build the democracy for countries all over the world. The road to the democracy, the freedom and the human rights is the only policy that helps the Vietnamese people be independent from China, each Vietnamese individual - not the corruption ridden communist regime with the police security force to oppress the people and compromise with the strangers - will be a reliable ally to the US, a fore front, a never-sunk bridgehead to protect the US national benefits in the East Sea. It is also the best measure that the US can save money to protect their national benefits in the East Sea because the Vietnamese people has a very long history of brave struggles to defend their country from being assimilated by the North while the far-reaching influence of the US is being limited because of the shrunk defense budget.
By the way, we enclose our Petition to President Obama in which we petition him to support the democracy, freedom and human rights for the Vietnamese people. Thank you for your time reading our letter and consideration.
May God bless you and your family.
Sincerely,
Ngoc Tien Nguyen
Chairman of the Committee of the Representatives of VAC-NORCAL

Enclosure: 1. The Petition to the President calling for the US support for the democracy, freedom and human rights in for the Vietnamese people. 2. Annex A (The lists of the signatures.) 3. The Vietnamese communists are responsible for the massacre of more than 6,000 civilians in Hue in 1968.

Obama: Libya slipping from grasp of tyrant

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-libya-slipping-grasp-tyrant-024052914.html
VINEYARD HAVEN, Masschusetts (AP) — President Barack Obama said Sunday night following a day of dramatic developments in Libya that the situation there has reached a "tipping point" and that control of the capital was "slipping from the grasp of a tyrant." He called on Moammar Gadhafi to accept reality and relinquish power.
Obama issued the statement after conducting a conference call with members of his national security team, who had provided him with updates throughout the day.
"The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Moammar Gadhafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end," Obama said in a statement issued while on vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. "Gadhafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and for all."
He had told reporters earlier Sunday that he would not make a statement "until we have full confirmation of what has happened."
Libyan rebels who raced into Tripoli on Sunday met little resistance as Gadhafi's defenders melted away and his 42-year authoritarian rule quickly crumbled. Euphoric fighters celebrated with residents of the capital in Green Square, the symbolic heart of the fading regime. Gadhafi's whereabouts were unknown, though state TV broadcast his bitter pleas for Libyans to defend his regime.
Opposition fighters captured his son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, who along with his father faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Another son was in contact with rebels about surrendering, the opposition said.
"Tonight, the momentum against the Gadhafi regime has reached a tipping point. Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant," Obama said in the statement. "The Gadhafi regime is showing signs of collapsing. The people of Libya are showing that the universal pursuit of dignity and freedom is far stronger than the iron fist of a dictator."
The United States has joined other countries in recognizing the rebel forces, the Transitional National Council, as the legitimate government in Libya.
Obama called on the rebels "at this pivotal and historic time" to demonstrate the leadership needed to steer the country through a transition by respecting the rights of the Libyan people, avoiding civilian casualties, protecting state institutions and pursuing a transition to democracy that is "just and inclusive" for all of the country's people.
"A season of conflict must lead to one of peace," the president said.
Obama said the U.S. would remain in close contact with the TNC and work with its allies and partners around the world to protect the Libyan people and support a peaceful shift to democracy.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta were also kept updated throughout the day, officials said.
For the past two days, senior U.S. diplomats have had intensive discussions with the Libyan opposition, and with European and NATO allies, about the evolving situation. Ivo Daalder, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, and Philip Gordon, the top American diplomat for Europe, have been consulting with their counterparts.
Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman, the top American diplomat for the Mideast, returned to Cairo on Sunday after two days in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital. On Saturday, while in Benghazi, Feltman warned that "the best-case scenario is for Gadhafi to step down now ... that's the best protection for civilians."
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Feltman's trip underscored continuing U.S. efforts to encourage the rebels "to maintain broad outreach across all segments of Libyan society and to plan for post-Gadhafi Libya."
Some U.S. lawmakers rushed to claim a rebel victory in the 6-month-old civil war. Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, wrote on Twitter: "Great wishes of hope for people of Libya. You won the civil war; all the best on winning the peace! Bless Libya's patriots."
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a joint statement calling the end of Gadhafi's rule "a victory for the Libyan people and for the broader cause of freedom in the Middle East and throughout the world."
But the GOP senators also criticized Obama's handling of the uprising. For one thing, Obama had limited U.S. military involvement to carrying out the early rounds of airstrikes before pulling back to a support role and refused to send in U.S. ground troops. McCain has said a stronger showing of U.S. air power could have dramatically shortened the conflict.
"Americans can be proud of the role our country has played ... but we regret that this success was so long in coming due to the failure of the United States to employ the full weight of our airpower," McCain and Graham said.

Obama says Gaddafi rule collapsing, supports rebels

People celebrate the recent news of uprising in Tripoli against Moammar Gadhafi's regime at the rebel-held town of Benghazi, Libya, early Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Libyan rebels said they launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO late Saturday, and Associated Press reporters heard unusually heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital. The fighting erupted just hours after opposition fighters captured the key city of Zawiya nearby. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)
http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ZLwf3f5AztmK0orzlZSEAA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM1NDtxPTg1O3c9NjMw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/a7a3eadac4308512f60e6a706700912d.jpg
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-gaddafi-regime-collapsing-libya-024152996.html
OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday Muammar Gaddafi's rule was showing signs of collapse and called on the Libyan leader to relinquish power to avoid further casualties.
"The surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple: Muammar Gaddafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end," Obama said in a statement. "Gaddafi needs to acknowledge the reality that he no longer controls Libya. He needs to relinquish power once and for all."
The United States has played a supporting role in the NATO campaign that started in March to protect rebels, protesters
and civilians from attacks by Gaddafi's forces, providing technical support and intelligence to help air strikes.
Obama has said the United States got involved to shield the Libyan people from humanitarian crisis, and pledged in his Sunday evening statement to stay involved after Gaddafi goes.
He called for the Transitional National Council rebels in Libya to take control upon Gaddafi's exit and do everything possible to avoid further casualties, preserve the remaining government institutions and commit to pursuing real democracy after decades of rule by the often erratic Libyan strongman.
"At this pivotal and historic time, the TNC should continue to demonstrate the leadership that is necessary to steer the country through a transition by respecting the rights of the people of Libya," Obama said in the statement issued during his annual holiday in Martha's Vineyard, an island near Boston.
"The United States will continue to stay in close coordination with the TNC. We will continue to insist that the basic rights of the Libyan people are respected. And we will continue to work with our allies and partners in the international community to protect the people of Libya, and to support a peaceful transition to democracy," he said.
POST-GADDAFI PLANNING
Earlier on Sunday, on his way into a seaside restaurant in the well-heeled town of Oak Bluffs, Obama told reporters he was waiting for a full picture of the upheaval in Libya to emerge before commenting on conditions there.
His written statement came shortly after TNC rebel forces streamed through the Libyan capital of Tripoli, waving flags and firing into the air.
The rebels said the city was under their control except Gaddafi's Bab Al-Aziziyah stronghold, according to al-Jazeera Television. Two of Gaddafi's sons were captured.
Western powers have been intensifying planning for post-Gaddafi Libya in recent days in response to a rapid succession of rebel victories around Tripoli, according to officials involved in the talks.
The NATO alliance on Friday authorized formal planning for post-Gaddafi Libya and TNC members were due to meet officials from the United States, Britain, Jordan and United Arab Emirates to discuss "day-after" planning in Dubai this week.
The White House believes that unless transition plans are firmed up quickly, post-Gaddafi Libya may be chaotic and it may be impossible to fulfill the West's promise to protect Libya's people from humanitarian crisis.
Some U.S. and European officials fear Libya's opposition movement is not fully ready to govern. Their hope is that enough of Gaddafi's institutions will remain intact to enable the formation of a transitional government that can maintain a measure of civil order.
On Sunday, the U.S. State Department repeated a call for Gaddafi to step aside.
"We continue efforts to encourage the TNC to maintain broad outreach across all segments of Libyan society and to plan for post-Gaddafi Libya," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "Gaddafi's days are numbered. If Gaddafi cared about the welfare of the

Thứ Năm, 18 tháng 8, 2011

Kính gửi Ngoại Trưởng Hillary R. Clinton

 “Chúng tôi hiểu nổi khát vọng mạnh mẽ của dân tộc Syria rằng không một quốc gia bên ngoài nào nên can thiệp vào cuộc đấu tranh của họ, và chúng tôi tôn trọng những ước vọng đó,” bà Clinton nói tại Bộ Ngoại Giao. “Cùng lúc đó, chúng tôi sẽ làm việc của chúng tôi yễm trợ cho những động lực (cảm hứng) này giúp một Syria có dân chủ, công lý và trọn vẹn, và chúng tôi sẽ đứng lên vì những quyền phổ quát và phẩm giá của họ bằng cách áp lực lên chế độ và chính cá nhân Assad .”
"We understand the strong desire of the Syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle, and we respect their wishes," Clinton said at the State Department. "At the same time, we will do our part to support their aspirations for a Syria that is democratic, just and inclusive, and we will stand up for their universal rights and dignity by pressuring the regime and Assad personally."
http://news.yahoo.com/us-allies-declare-syrias-assad-must-leave-203307751.html
Kính gi Ngoi Trưởng Hillary R. Clinton:
Chúng tôi xin thay mt cng đồng Vit Nam Bc California, tt c người Vit Nam có tên trong bn danh sách đính kèm, tt c nhng tù nhân chính tr ti Vit Nam và tt cngười dân Vit Nam không có cơ hi lên tiếng xin gi li cám ơn Ngoi Trưởng dành thì gi quý báu đọc thư này và Thỉnh Nguyện Thư gửi Tổng Thống Obama xin TT yễm trợ cho dân chủ, tự do và nhân quyền cho Việt Nam.
Kính thưa Ngoại Trưởng,
Ðất nước chúng tôi hiện nay đang trãi qua không biết bao nhiêu thảm trạng từ ngoài đến trong. Bên ngoài thì đất đai vùng biên giới phía Bắc đã mất dần mòn vào tay Trung cộng sau chiến tranh Việt-Trung 1979, Vịnh Bắc Bộ bị chia cắt bất công không phù hợp với Luật quốc tế về hàng hải năm 2002 làm thiệt thòi cuộc sống ngư dân, quần đảo Hoàng Sa bị Trung cộng chiếm đóng xây dựng căn cứ hải quân kể từ 19/01/1974, Trung cộng sau đó tiến xa hơn về Nam biển Ðông và tàn sát hơn 70 người Việt tại bãi đá Gạc Ma ngày 14/3/1988. Kể từ năm 2005, hải quân Trung cộng thực sự làm chủ biển Ðông, tự ý ra lệnh cấm ngư dân Việt không được quyền đánh bắt cá hàng năm từ 15/06 đến cuối tháng 8 và từ đó họ đã đánh đập bắn giết ngư dân Việt, bắn phá, đập nát dụng cụ đồ nghề đi biển, bắt giam trên hải đảo xa xôi đòi tiền chuộc. Giờ đây tình trạng biển Ðông còn trầm trọng hơn thế vì hải quân Trung cộng đã lấn sát nội hải Việt Nam tự đặt ranh giới biển mà họ tự vẽ là đường lưỡi bò của họ trên biển Ðông. Bên trong nội địa Ðông Dương  thì Trung cộng xây đập nước tại tỉnh Xayaburi thuộc Lào nhằm ngăn chận nước từ nguồn sông Mé Kong gây khó khăn cho nông dân Việt Nam thiếu nước canh tác. Tại Tây Nguyên Việt Nam Thủ tướng cộng sản Việt Nam Nguyễn Tấn Dũng đã cho phép hàng vạn công nhân Trung cộng đến sinh sống và khai thác bô xít tại đây làm ô nhiễm môi trường và hiểm hoạ bùn đỏ gây nguy hại không lường đối với sự sống còn của dân tộc chúng tôi. Con số lao động Trung cộng không ai rõ lý lịch hiện nay tại Việt Nam lên đến khoảng 1.3 triệu người đi vào Việt Nam một cách tự do qua đường biên giới giữa ba nước Ðông Dương. Ðiều này cho thấy mối hiểm họa đau thương của dân tộc tôi đang thực sự mất tất cả đất đai và biển đảo và có cả một đạo quân hơn triệu người lạ mặt nằm tiềm ẩn trong nước.
Chúng tôi biết rằng NT rất bận rộn với công việc quan trọng cho đất nước Hoa Kỳ và cả những lo nghĩ về các mối lo chung trên thế giới đè nặng trên đôi vai, với gia đình như thiên chức làm người mẹ, nhưng chúng tôi muốn hình dung những đau thương đổ vỡ của dân tộc tôi để NT hiểu rằng dân tộc chúng rất khao khát tự do, đam mê nền dân chủ và nhân quyền để dân tộc chúng tôi có thể đứng lên một cách độc lập tự quyết định số phận của dân tộc chúng tôi trước thảm họa của một đổ vỡ gần kề và trở thành nô lệ cho một ngoại bang hùng mạnh và gian ác. Chúng tôi muốn nói với NT thay thế những tiếng kêu gào từ những người tay không vô tội bị những kẻ cầm quyền đàn áp, đánh đập, bắn giết, tống giam chỉ vì lên tiếng đòi hỏi tự do, dân chủ, nhân quyền trong ôn hoà. Chúng tôi muốn thỉnh nguyện NT hãy yễm trợ cho một nền dân chủ cho Việt Nam, giúp mang lại nhân quyền và sự tự do cho hơn 80 triệu người Việt chúng tôi trước khi Việt Nam trở thành một Tây Tạng thứ hai. Nếu điều tệ hại này xãy ra chẳng những dân tộc tôi đau khổ mà chính Hoa Kỳ sẽ rất hối tiếc vì đã không sớm nhìn thấy bi kịch đó và không giữ trọn trách nhiệm một quốc gia tiên phong trong quá trình xây dựng những nền dân chủ trên thế giới.
Nhân đây, chúng tôi xin kính gửi đến NT để tường bản Thỉnh Nguyện Thư mà chúng tôi đã gửi đến Tổng Thống Obama xin ông yễm trợ cho nền dân chủ, tự do và nhân quyền cho Việt Nam.
Kính chào NT và xin Ơn Trên luôn ban phúc lành đến NT và gia đình.
Ký tên,
US, allies declare that Syria's Assad must leave
http://news.yahoo.com/us-allies-declare-syrias-assad-must-leave-203307751.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — Executing a global squeeze play, the United States and its European allies on Thursday demanded an end to four decades of brutal family dictatorship in Syria and underscored the tough talk with new sanctions on President Bashar Assad's government.
The unified stance isolates Assad further as he presses a military campaign against major demonstrations.
But the diplomacy left many questions unanswered, including how the demand for Assad's ouster can be backed up in the absence of any appetite for military intervention, and who inside the Syrian government or among the country's fragmented opposition might take his place.
The messages from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels coincided with a U.N. report recommending that Syria be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation of possible crimes against humanity, including summary executions, torturing prisoners and targeting children in the crackdown on demonstrations.
Much of Syria was quiet Thursday, although activists reported intense shooting around noon in the flashpoint city of Latakia.
Rights groups say Assad's forces have killed nearly 2,000 people since mid-March. The military assault on civilians has escalated since Ramadan began, with security forces killing hundreds and detaining thousands.
Activists said security forces killed 18 people across the country on Wednesday, the same day Assad assured U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that military and police operations had stopped.
In Thursday's coordinated statements, President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Canada and the European Union called for Assad to resign, saying his repression of demonstrations inspired by this spring's Arab uprisings made him unfit to lead. The new effort signals the end of the world's thin patience for Assad, once viewed as a Western-looking pragmatist who might expand freedoms at home and help achieve an Arab peace deal with Israel.
The resignation calls were the first explicit demands from the U.S. and its allies for Assad to step down, although condemnation of his actions had been growing for weeks.
Syria presented a different case than other Muslim nations swept by unrest this year. The United States used leverage from its billions of dollars in military aid to gradually ratchet up pressure on Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak to step down, and called early on for the ouster of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
But Washington has very little direct influence on Syria, long a pariah state accused of sponsoring terrorism. Syria does have wider trade and other ties with Europe and the Arab world, which complicated the U.S. position, and with neighbor Iran. Iran remains one of the Assad regime's few allies, although those bonds are not deep.
In a statement released by the White House, Obama said Assad had lost all credibility as a leader and had to go.
"His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people," Obama said. "We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way. He has not led. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside."
British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint statement saying that Assad should "leave power in the greater interests of Syria and the unity of his people." European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also joined the chorus of condemnation.
In Geneva, a high-level U.N. human rights team said that Syria's crackdown "may amount to crimes against humanity" and should be referred to the International Criminal Court. The U.N. investigators say they had found "a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population."
U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said Thursday she had asked the Security Council to refer Syria to the court, and the U.S. and Europeans said they would push for sanctions at the U.N.
Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, accused the U.S. of waging a "humanitarian and diplomatic war" against his country in order to instigate further violence by sending "the wrong message to the terrorist armed groups that they are under American and Western protection."
Obama said Assad was wrong to think he could silence the voices of his people with repressive tactics similar to the ones his father, Hafez Assad, used to crush opponents in the 1980s. Obama signed an executive order that gives his administration authority to impose sweeping new sanctions on Syria intended to further isolate Assad.
The order immediately bans the import into the United States of any Syrian petroleum or petroleum products. Syria is not a huge source of oil for the U.S., but if European allies join the effort, it could significantly affect one of the government's top sources of revenue. Syrian crude oil exports go mostly to European countries such as Germany, Italy and France, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.
Obama's order also denies Syria access to the U.S. financial system, freezing all Syrian government assets that are subject to American jurisdiction. It prohibits any U.S. citizen from engaging in transactions with Syria, investing in the country or exporting services there.
The U.S. had already hit more than 30 Syrian officials, including Assad himself and members of his inner circle, and firms with sanctions. It has also lobbied other nations to follow suit, an acknowledgment both of limited U.S. leverage and the value, as Clinton said this week, of giving Assad nowhere to run.
The administration was careful to try not to appear highhanded or meddlesome in a region where suspicion of U.S. motives is rampant. Some of the Syrian protesters demanding an end to Assad's rule also reject the idea of a new alliance with the American government. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama stressed that no one would impose transition in Syria.
"We understand the strong desire of the Syrian people that no foreign country should intervene in their struggle, and we respect their wishes," Clinton said at the State Department. "At the same time, we will do our part to support their aspirations for a Syria that is democratic, just and inclusive, and we will stand up for their universal rights and dignity by pressuring the regime and Assad personally."
The White House had planned to make the announcement last week but postponed it largely at the request of Syria's neighbor Turkey, which asked for more time to try to persuade Assad, and because Clinton and other officials argued it was important to build a global coalition to demand his departure.
U.S. intelligence analysts believe one possible outcome of a post-Assad era is a Lebanese style government in which Syrian political parties form along sectarian lines, with some pro-Iran, some Sunni Muslim, some Christian. One U.S. official said a positive sign is that the protesters across ethnic and religious lines appear to have maintained a cohesive, unified front. That shared experience, coupled with unseating Assad, could forge ties between disparate groups.
Another possibility is that Assad gets pushed out by members of the existing government, who use his ouster to win back the people.
Until Thursday, the administration had said Assad had lost his legitimacy and that Syria would be better off without him. But it had stopped short of demanding his departure.
In addition to the statements from Europe and Canada, Jordan's foreign minister said Thursday that his country is "angered" and "extremely worried" by the killings of civilians in Syria, and Switzerland recalled its ambassador. A day earlier, Tunisia recalled its ambassador from Syria, following the lead of several other Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, which the U.S. has been lobbying to show displeasure with Assad.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday compared Assad to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi for refusing to heed pressure to change. Turkey has joined calls for Gadhafi to leave power, and Erdogan said he had personally spoken to Assad and sent his foreign minister to Damascus, but "despite all of this, they are continuing to strike civilians."
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AP White House Correspondent Ben Feller, AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier and Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.