Obama Calls Saudi, U.K. Leaders as Syrian Violence Continues

U.S. President Barack Obama, Saudi King Abdullah and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed that the Syrian regime “immediately” must end the violence against its citizens even as they refrained from calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave office.

Obama called Abdullah and Cameron separately yesterday, committing to “close consultations” about the situation in Syria, according to a White House statement. Syrian security forces have killed at least 56 anti-government protesters in the past four days, according to Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.

Obama and Abdullah agreed that the “Syrian regime’s brutal campaign of violence against the Syrian people must end immediately,” the White House statement said. During the call with Cameron, the two leaders “reiterated their belief that the Syrian people’s legitimate demands for a transition to democracy should be met,” according to a separate statement.

Canada is extending sanctions on Assad’s regime to include travel restrictions and the freezing of assets of two Syrian companies, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said yesterday. Members of the Assad regime are unwelcome in Canada, Baird told reporters on a conference call from Mexico. Canada also has frozen the assets of Syriatel Mobile Telecom SA and the Commercial Bank of Syria and will prosecute any Canadians who have transactions with them.

Canadian Sanctions

Canada first imposed economic sanctions on Syria in May, banning the export of military equipment. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Aug. 12 called on nations doing business with Syria to cut off trade and arms sales to the regime.

“We urge those countries still buying Syrian oil and gas, those countries still sending Assad weapons, those countries whose political and economic support give him comfort in his brutality, to get on the right side of history,” Clinton said.

Syria, whose oil production is declining, produces about 386,000 barrels of crude a day and has the ninth-largest oil reserves in the Middle East, according to data from BP Plc.

Growing Death Toll

At least 10 protesters were killed yesterday, Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera reported. Four of those killed died under torture in Homs after being arrested a few days ago, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Yesterday’s reported deaths added to an already growing death toll in the last four days. Assad’s forces have killed more than 2,400 protesters since the revolt began in March, according to Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. The Assad regime also has detained more than 30,000 people, with some in cages, according to U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

The revolt against Assad’s rule began in March after the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt were toppled in uprisings and unrest spread to Bahrain and Yemen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roxana Tiron in Washington at rtiron@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net.

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