U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Congressional panel Tuesday that an argument could be made that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is a war criminal.
(SOUNDBITE ) (English)U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON, SAYING:
"Based on the definitions of war criminal and crimes against humanity there would be an argument to be made that he would fit into that category."
Last week Clinton attended a "Friends of Syria" conference of Western and Arab powers in Tunis that urged Assad to stop the killing of civilians in his crackdown on a nearly year-old uprising against his rule.
The UN estimates than more than 7,500 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began about a year ago.
So far, the outside world has proved powerless to halt the killing in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests has spawned an armed insurrection.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.
