Hillary Clinton welcomes consensus on Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that the U.N. General Assembly has shown an “overwhelming international consensus” in demanding that the Syrian government end its violent crackdown. The assembly adopted a strongly worded resolution late Thursday by a 137-12 vote. The vote “demonstrated an overwhelming international consensus that the bloody assaults must end,” Hillary Clinton said at a joint news conference with visiting European Union foreign policy chief Catharine Ashton. “In the face of this global condemnation, the regime in Damascus, however, appears to be escalating its assault on civilians, and those who are suffering cannot get access to the humanitarian assistance they need and deserve,” Hillary Clinton said. “So we will keep working to pressure and isolate the regime, to support the opposition, and to provide relief to the people of Syria.” She will attend a “Friends of Syria” conference on February 24 in Tunis, “where a number of nations will work to intensify pressure on the regime and to mobilize the humanitarian relief that is needed,” she said.