U.S. Pressures Syria’s Assad With Activist Talks, Sanctions

The U.S. is stepping up the pressure on Syria, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met yesterday with opposition activists and lawmakers announced new sanctions legislation against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Obama administration is also looking at ways to bolster existing sanctions, in Congress and with the United Nations, and is working with allies to hit Syria with new energy-related penalties, according to Clinton and the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford.