Remarks at the Friends of the Syrian People Ministerial Meeting

Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Ministerial Conference Center
Paris, France
July 6, 2012

Thank you very much, and thanks to the Government of France for hosting this. I want to support what Minister Davutoglu just said, because the Friends of Syria has been a very useful device to build pressure against the Syrian regime and to build international support for the Syrian people.

For more than a year, those who spoke for the Syrian opposition said they did not want any foreign intervention. And we respected that. And it is something that we took seriously. Starting in Tunis and then in Istanbul and now in Paris, we are focused on determining what we can do to try to hasten the end of this regime and to provide the circumstances for an effective process of transition and reconciliation.

What was accomplished in Geneva by the action group was, for the very first time, to enlist not only all five permanent members of the Security Council including Russia and China, but also important leaders in the region and in the Arab League in support of such a transition. The issue now is to determine how best to put into action what was accomplished there and is continuing here. And I really hope everyone reads the communique from Geneva, because for example, one of the earlier speakers from Syria expressed concern there was nothing about political prisoners. Well, indeed there is. And a call for the release from detention. So it would be very helpful to get everybody on the same page if we’re going to work together about what we have already done and what we need to be doing as we move forward. MORE.

(Source: state.gov)