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Syria has a pivotal role in most of the flashpoint issues of the Middle East – from the Arab-Israeli peace process to Iran's widening influence. Instability has thrown into disarray the U.S. push for engagement with Damascus, part of Washington's hopes to peel the country away from Hamas, Hezbollah and Tehran.
The White House said Monday it was considering sanctions against the Syrian government in response to the brutal crackdown. The statement from National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor was the first time officials had said publicly that sanctions were possible.
Syria already is subject to numerous penalties as it is deemed a "state sponsor of terrorism" by the State Department, but it maintains diplomatic relations with Washington.
In recent days, there had been signs that the regime was planning to launch a massive push against the opposition.
Last week, Assad fulfilled a key demand of the protest movement by abolishing nearly 50-year-old emergency laws that had given the regime a free hand to arrest people without cause. But he coupled the concession with a stern warning that protesters would no longer have an excuse to hold mass protests, and any further unrest would be considered "sabotage."
When protesters defied his order and held demonstrations Friday – the main day for protests around the Arab world – they were met with a gunfire, tear gas and stun guns.
At the United Nations, France, Britain, Germany and Portugal were urging the U.N. Security Council to strongly condemn the violence against peaceful demonstrators.
In Geneva, the U.N. human rights chief, Navi Pillay, said Syria has turned its back on international calls to "stop killing its own people."
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