White House Calls For Syrian President To Step Down

President Barack Obama called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down Thursday.

“The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way,” Obama said in a statement. “For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside.”

With violent responses to pro-democratic protesters plaguing Syria for months, the President has also announced new sanctions that will “deepen the financial isolation of the Assad regime.”

These sanctions will immediately freeze all assets of the Syrian government subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits the engagement of any American citizen in transactions involving the government of Syria.

Additionally, the sanctions also ban U.S. imports of Syrian-origin petroleum or petroleum products and prohibits any U.S. citizen from investing in Syria.