US renews push to make Syria Assad-free

Beirut: Washington’s UN ambassador said that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad cannot stay in power after a suspected chemical attack that prompted the first direct US military action against his government.

Nikki Haley’s comments in an interview airing Sunday came as part of an apparent shift in US policy towards Mr Assad’s government after the alleged chemical attack last week on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun that killed 87 people, including many children.

In the interview with CNN, Ms Haley said peace in Syria was impossible with Mr Assad in power.

“There’s not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime,” she told the “State of the Union” programme. “If you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it’s going to be hard to see a government that’s peaceful and stable with Assad.”

“Regime change is something that we think is going to happen,” she said, adding that Washington was also focused on fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and ending Iranian influence.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson insisted, however, that defeating ISIS in Syria remained Washington’s top priority.

“It’s important that we keep our priorities straight. And we believe that the first priority is the defeat of ISIS,” Mr Tillerson said in an interview with CBS television’s “Face the Nation” later Sunday.

“Once the ISIS threat has been reduced or eliminated, I think we can turn our attention directly to stabilising the situation in Syria,” he said.

After years of calling for Mr Assad’s removal during former president Barack Obama’s tenure, Washington appeared to be stepping back from seeking regime change in Syria in recent weeks.

Prior to the attack in Khan Sheikhun, Mr Tillerson said Mr Assad’s fate should be decided by the Syrian people, suggesting Washington would not oppose him standing for re-election.

And Ms Haley too said Washington’s priority was “no longer to sit and focus on getting Assad out.”

Syria’s government has denied any involvement in Tuesday’s attack on Khan Sheikhun, suspected to be the second-deadliest chemical weapons attack since the country’s war began in March 2011.

It killed at least 87 civilians, including 31 children.