WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday asked Turkey's foreign minister to press Syria to "return its military to the barracks," during the Turkish minister's upcoming visit to Syria.
Clinton spoke by telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Sunday about Syria amid rising international calls on Damascus to stop a military crackdown on protests.
"Secretary Clinton discussed the US position that Syria must immediately return its military to barracks and release all prisoners of concern," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
"She asked the foreign minister to reinforce these messages with the Syrian government. She also discussed American support for a transition to democracy in Syria," he said.
Syrian security forces killed more than 50 people on Sunday, activists said, as the regime defended its crackdown on "outlaws" and Pope Benedict XVI and the Arab League condemned the violence.
The US envoy to Damascus, Robert Ford, who returned to Syria on Thursday, also said in a US television interview on Sunday that Washington will "try to ratchet up the pressure" on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
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