Dubai: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a conference in Tunisia on Friday that President Bashar Al Assad will "pay a heavy price" for ignoring international will.
Clinton said the Syrian regime will have "more blood on its hands" if it doesn't immediately comply with ceasefire demands being issued by a group of 70 western and Arab nations. She was speaking at the "Friends of Syria" meeting in Tunis.
The Saudi Arabian delegation walked out of the meeting over what it saw as the gathering's "inactivity", Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said.
It said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal left the meeting after saying in a speech that focusing on humanitarian aid to Syria was "not enough".
In her opening remarks, Clinton said the Al Assad regime has "ignored every warning, squandered every opportunity and broken every agreement."
The Friends of Syria are demanding an immediate ceasefire so humanitarian aid can be delivered to Syrians who have suffered under a yearlong assault, especially those in the city of Homs, which has been under bombardment for past three weeks.
"If the [Al] Assad regime refuses to allow this life-saving aid to reach civilians, it will have ever-more blood on its hands," Clinton said, noting the same was true of nations like Russia and China, which are backing Al Assad.
Annan mission
As she also announced $10 million (Dh36.7 million) in aid for humanitarian efforts, Clinton said the meeting should send a "clear message" to Al Assad: "You will pay a heavy price for ignoring the will of the international community and violating the human rights of your people."
Qatari Foreign Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani backed calls for an Arab peacekeeping force in Syria.
"We want this meeting to be a start to stopping the violence in Syria and this cannot be done except after the formation of an international Arab force to maintain security, the opening of secure humanitarian corridors to bring aid to the Syrian people and the application of Arab League decisions," he told the meeting. In Geneva, new international mediator Kofi Annan urged all sides in the Syria crisis to cooperate with his mission, saying he was determined to put an end to the violence and human rights abuses.
