Obama rules out unilateral US action on Syria
May 17, 2013  10:39
US President Barack Obama has ruled out any unilateral American action against the Assad regime, asserting that his administration would continue to work with international partners and the Syrian opposition.

"This is an international problem. It is very much my hope to continue to work with all the various parties involved, to find a solution that brings peace to Syria, stabilises the region, stabilises those chemical weapons," Obama said yesterday in a joint news conference with the visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ruling out any unilateral action by the United States against the Assad regime, Obama said that "It's not going to be something that the United States does by itself. I don't think anybody in the region, including the Syrian Prime Minister would think that US unilateral actions would bring about a better outcome for Syria."

Obama said that US and the international community needs to continue to strengthen capacity of the Syrian opposition that are on the ground fighting to protect themselves from the Assad regime. He also stressed on continuing to mobilise the entire international community to put more and more pressure on Assad so that he recognises that he is no longer legitimate and that he needs to go.
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