State Department spokesman Mark Toner was responding to questions about comments from former Syrian vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam, who told an Egyptian newspaper that Assad`s crackdown on demonstrators will eventually lead to the Syrian leader`s ouster.
"I cannot even begin to guess about Assad`s future," said Toner. "He`s certainly facing a serious challenge... from the Syrian people," he said. "They have expressed their aspirations that they want to see change, and so far it appears that he`s not met those aspirations."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday condemned the violence in Syria and said the country must begin a "serious political process."
On Thursday, Assad signed a decree to lift almost five decades of draconian emergency rule, on the eve of more of the protests which have rocked his regime. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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