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SANA via EPA, file
Syrian President Bashar Assad is accompanied by his wife Asma while casting his vote during a referendum on a new constitution on Feb. 26 in in Damascus.
The U.S. and U.K. are considering letting Syria’s President Bashar Assad have immunity from prosecution if he agrees to relinquish power, according to reports.
The Guardian newspaper reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was aiming to convince former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to host a peace conference to discuss the idea further.
The paper said Yemen President Ali Saleh’s departure from power – in which he was given immunity from prosecution despite the killing of civilians – was seen as a potential model.
The Telegraph newspaper said Assad would be given safe passage to Switzerland to take part in the peace talks under the plan.
The paper said British officials believed it was “worth having a go” with the idea, but added that a well-placed British government source admitted it was a “very optimistic” scenario.
'Transitional process'
The plan was drawn up following bilateral talks between the U.S./U.K. and Russia at the G-20 meeting in Mexico, where the British source said Russian president Vladimir Putin had “indicated that they were not hooked on Assad staying in power indefinitely."
P.J. Crowley, former State Department spokesman, joins Andrea Mitchell Reports to talk about how US and Russia might work together to prevent a civil war in Syria.
“Of course they go on to say that it’s not up to the international community to decide. But those of us who had bilaterals with Putin thought there was just enough out of these meetings to make it worth pursuing the objective of negotiating some sort of transitional process in Syria,” the source added, according to The Telegraph.
The Telegraph said the official was asked if this might involve immunity for Assad. “It is hard to see a negotiated solution in which one of the participants agrees voluntarily to go to the International Criminal Court,” the source replied.
The paper said Western officials hoped the peace talks in Switzerland would take place in “the next few weeks.” The summit would be attended by Assad or other Syrian government officials, opposition figures, U.N. Security Council members, and other countries such as Turkey, Saudia Arabia and possibly Iran.
Former National Security Adviser for President Carter, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, joins Morning Joe to discuss the latest in Egypt, the G20 summit in Mexico, China's relationship with Russia and the impact it could have on the U.S. and Syria.
“The Russians argue that the Iranians should be invited,” the British source said, according to The Telegraph. “As far as we are concerned, the answer is no. We have no illusions: it could capsize just on whether Iran is invited or not, but it is worth a try given the gravity of events.”
Three Russian ships headed for Syria, US says
A U.K. Foreign Office said in an email sent to msnbc.com and other media that the British government was continuing “to do everything we can to bring an end to the violence in Syria.”
“If Assad accepts a political transition then there is a range of options that could be considered, but there is no new offer, and the longer the killing goes on, the fewer options Assad will have,” the statement said.
“The details of any transition need to be agreed, including with the Syrian opposition, and we will continue to collect evidence so there can be no expectation on the part of those killing that they can avoid justice and accountability,” it added.
However, a Foreign Office spokesman told msnbc.com that the U.K. would not be able to intervene if Assad was given a safe haven by another country.
AFP - Getty Images
Damage and destruction litter a street in the battered city of Qusayr, southwest of Homs in western Syria, on Wednesday.
As the diplomats looked for a solution to the crisis, the death toll continued to mount Thursday.
Activists told The Associated Press that two people were killed during the shelling of rebel-held areas in the city of Homs.
PhotoBlog: Syrian army shells Homs and Qusayr
Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for political affairs, warned on Tuesday that time was running out for the current U.N.-backed peace process for Syria.
"The Secretary-General (Ban Ki-moon) remains gravely concerned about the intensification of violence and rising death toll, as well as continued human rights abuses and unmet humanitarian needs," Fernandez-Taranco said, according to Reuters.
UN suspends Syria monitoring due to rising violence
Ban said last month that at least 10,000 people have been killed in the Syria conflict, but U.N. diplomats say the actual number is likely much higher.
"The situation in Homs is particularly alarming," Fernandez-Taranco told the 15-nation Security Council during a discussion on the Middle East, Reuters reported. "The tragic human suffering from the escalating conflict calls for urgent and concerted efforts to avoid a full-scale civil war."
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- 42,000 modern-day slaves rescued but millions in bondage, trafficking report says
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- Three Russian ships headed to Syria, US says
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
lesechang You wrong , God had died and gave his power to the west and the US , They tell leaders when to step down and when to stay . If Assad really Evil why would they offer him Immunity after they said that he killed 10000 people . You know what buddy? that tells you they have been lying to us all along , Its true what Assad been saying , Alqaeda and the Saudis And Qataris thugs are in Syria , And they are killing the civilians in Syria and specially the Christians and destroying their Churches . Who is giving these aaasssholes the right to forgive and forget about murders . They are the murderers in Libya , Iraq , Nigeria and all these little countries .
all talk bla, bla, bla, bla, no wonder our gas price is sky high. Shut up! I'm all for
immunity
actually gas is 20% down, and if we had another good ole stock market crash gas would go down to buck 50 or $2 a gallon
Oh that crash is on its way. Hopefully it will be tremendously robust and lays waste to millions!
Meth Mardi are you for immunity for NATO , BUSH, CHENEY AND ALL THESE PEOPLE TOO . Let me know , before you shut up .
It's good to see that the posters here don't want that mass murder on this soil. Is there not a "team 6" to go in and get the job done? We as well as the Isralies have world famous teams up for that, why are we not going that route? There is always the deniability factor. It would leave in place the much needed millions that the mass murderer would take out of the country if allowed to leave. Is there not a suicide bomber available? And like many of the posters here, I too ask, WTF why do we care? Let the man destroy his country and at the end only to realize that there's no work force, no suppliers, and the number of children, their future by the way, have been decimated. This free citizen says let the entire region fight amongst it self and destroy it self. Problem solved. Beef up our borders, put the military, home guard, reserves on high alert and pull out of everywhere else to concentrate our efforts here at home. We've got infrastructure that's broken, (anyone remember the front page pic of the sinkhole / flood that killed or drowned zoo animals right here at home?) we've got states that are flooded and burned with main streets that are ghost towns, we need all hands on deck - right - here.!
aye i see that MSNBC...one video is not a flash object and the other one is...so I'll just change the Flash object microphone input device on this end.
low bitrate high compression bursts???
And the tcp link between messenger and Skype? Other modules and stacks? Via streaming protocols using other ports, adjustable throttling burst rate.....possibly even TDM at some other endpoint. Yes I have been watching its development.
And how would the newsmedia know so much about the flame virus? Hmmmmm?
no rtsp indicated but within typical standard browser port ranges. Hmm. packet encapsulation in NetMOn.
Mark and space tones, char types, bit inversion flags.
hmm yes alot of jumping java beans.
Well of course they are are going to give their JWO puppet "immunity". He's already got it.
safe haven? let butchers protect butchers.let the people of syria deal with him like the people of iraq dealt with saddam.
well, she not standing by her man now, off hiding in some other country, but does she want her husband to continue to slaughter tens of thousands more syrians? thats the big question
Assad don't be a damn fool and trust the west. They will screw you in a minute and send you to rot in Hague. Just hang in there and use all measures necessary to keep your country in one piece. You know the resistance is funded by the west so they can overthrow you by force. They are upset at you for buying weapons systems from Russia and they want Cheney and the western companies to sell you their stuff at much inflated prices. They really don't care about your people at all, it is only a lip service. They will forget quickly and move on to the next victims or weak countries who can't defend themselves. You have got to throw everything at the resistance and crush them without mercy .
By continuing to blame the revolution on a foreign conspiracy, dismissing hundreds of thousands of his fellow citizens as "bandits, Zionists and al Qaeda," Assad is taking a page out of the handbook of Gadhafi and likely will end up like Gadhafi (if the people of syria don't hang him first)
WWIII may also start by N. Korea!!! The new, young dictator has to deal with starvation and unrest by his own army may choose to attack S. Korea once it has some ICBMs. He will have to give US troops a change to escape to Japan, but nothing is predictable in such a large-scale attack. If nukes would be used, we will have the WWIII.
The Assads appear to be well-dressed. Didn't they used to make shopping trips to London?
This idea of offering him immunity in our country is absurd. It is not our business and he should stay in his country and take what his people want to do to him.
His wife is HOT!!
why can't the west stay out of everybody's business ?????
it is not up to the west
to offer immunity
We should relocate him to Detroit, Chicago,newark or any other high class cities. Now his wife can come live next door to me. The house is vacant. Just don't tell my wife. She has a very limited sense of humor.