Obama to call on Syria's Assad to step down

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is demanding that Syrian President Bashar Assad resign for unleashing a sustained assault against his people, a senior administration official tells CBS News.

Mr. Obama is expected make his first explicit call for the Syrian leader to leave power in a written statement Thursday. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton then plans to speak about the tougher U.S. stand a short time later.

The administration will also slap new sanctions on Syria through an executive order.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Mr. Obama had not yet released his statement.

As Syrian protesters have called for an end to his regime, Assad has unleashed tanks and ground troops in an attempt to retake control in rebellious areas.

Although the officials acknowledged the move is not likely to have any immediate impact on the Syrian regime's behavior, they said it would send a powerful signal that Assad is no longer welcome in the international community. And they noted that the additional sanctions would further boost pressure on Assad and his inner circle.

President Obama, Clinton and top national security aides have previously said that Assad has "lost his legitimacy" as a leader and that Syria would be "better off" without him. But they had not specifically demanded that he step down.

Thursday's expected new formulation of policy will make it clear that Assad can no longer be a credible reformist and has to leave, officials said.

The direct U.S. challenge to his position will come just a day after Assad reportedly told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that military and police operations against protesters had stopped.

In a phone call between the two leaders, Ban pressed Assad on the "continued widespread violations of human rights and excessive use of force by Syrian security forces against civilians," the BBC reports.

"The Secretary-General emphasized that all military operations and mass arrests must cease immediately. President Assad said that the military and police operations had stopped," a U.N. statement said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Assad lashed out at the growing international reproach of his government, saying his country would not give up its "dignity and sovereignty."

Syrian forces unleash gunboats on protesters

The Obama administration had planned to make its announcement last week but postponed it largely at the request of Syria's neighbor Turkey, which asked for more time to try to convince Assad to reform, and because Clinton and other officials argued it was important to build a global consensus that Assad must go. Clinton on Tuesday publicly questioned the effectiveness of the United States acting alone.

"It is not going to be any news if the United States says Assad needs to go," she said. "OK, fine, what's next? If other people say it, if Turkey says it, if (Saudi) King Abdullah says it, there is no way the Assad regime can ignore it."

Since then, however, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared Assad to Libya's Muammar Qaddafi for refusing to heed calls to change. Turkey has joined calls for Qaddafi to leave power and Erdogan said Wednesday he had personally spoken to Assad and sent his foreign minister to Damascus, but "despite all of this, they are continuing to strike civilians."

In addition, Tunisia on Wednesday recalled its ambassador from Syria, following the lead of several other Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, that the U.S. has been lobbying to show displeasure with Assad.

And, on Thursday, U.S. officials say the U.N. human rights chief is expected to call on the U.N. Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for investigation of alleged atrocities against protesters during the five-month uprising. Syria insists it is rooting out terrorists but rights groups accuse Syrian troops of killing more than 1,800 civilians since mid-March.

Such steps appear to match the administration's stated strategy of coordination.