US Senator Kerry warns Syria on protests
Senior US Senator John Kerry on Thursday warned President Bashar al-Assad to refrain from using force against protests planned for Friday and urged him to embrace a dialogue with the opposition.
Assad “should insist that his police and military refrain from using violence against peaceful demonstrators and instead he should seize the opportunity to open a process of real discussion to address the aspirations of the Syrian people,” Kerry said in a statement.
The lawmaker, a former presidential candidate who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said “the world will be watching very closely” to see how Assad manages the next round of protests.