Syria: London leads EU call for action

LONDON, April 26 (UPI) -- Britain, backed by a number of other European governments, has been pushing for stronger action against the Syrian government for its brutal crackdown on demonstrators.

London will push for sanctions targeting the Syrian regime led by President Bashar Assad if he continues to order the military to attack protesters, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday.

"Syria is now at a fork in the road. Its government can still choose to bring about the radical reform which alone can provide peace and stability for Syria in the long term, and we urge it do so," Hague said in Parliament. "Or it can choose ever more violent repression which can only ever bring short-term security for the authorities there. If it does so we will work with our European partners and others to take measures including sanctions that will have an impact on the regime."

The Syrian leadership has deployed thousands of troops to quell anti-government protests, with reports indicating tanks shelled residential buildings in Daraa, the city considered ground zero for Syria's protest movement.

Amnesty International estimates some 400 people have been killed by Syrian security forces since the protests began nearly six weeks ago. Several hundred protesters have been arrested.

It's hard to verify any figures and reports because of a near-complete ban on foreign media reporting from the Syrian crisis zones. Syrian activists have been using Facebook and Twitter to publish videos of the demonstrations and the violence.

Britain has been among the most outspoken critics in Europe of the crackdown, but it's not alone.

Italy and France Tuesday jointly called on the European Union and the United Nations to exert pressure on Syria to end the violence.

"We issue a strong call on the authorities in Damascus to stop the violent repression," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Rome.

Germany, as most European nations, is said to back a condemnation of the Syrian violence in the U.N. Security Council. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Assad to urge "restraint," Turkish media reported Tuesday.

This comes after White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said Monday Washington was considering "targeted sanctions" against Syria.

Washington wants Assad to "lift the emergency law, institute reforms and to cease the violence against his own people."

The U.S. State Department Monday urged U.S. citizens to leave Syria as soon as possible.

Busy with its military offensive in Libya, the West has been rather late to react to the anti-regime protests in Syria, a country that doesn't produce oil in such quantities as Libya.