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The U.N. and the U.S. have finally admitted the cease-fire plan in Syria has failed, and Syria is accusing the U.N. of supporting "terrorist" rebel attacks, which leaves us with the question: what's the next step in Syria?
George Mitchell, a former US peace envoy for the Middle East, was asked at a conference in Dublin if Bashar al-Assad could be tried as a war criminal in the same vein as Charles Taylor, the former Liberian leader the U.N. charged with war crimes earlier this week. "Certainly," he replied, adding, "I don't think that anyone could rule that out at this time."
Mitchell also said Assad should step down, and that the international community could be doing more for the Syrian people. "I think there are more actions that could be directed at the regime and all those that are supporting what is occurring there particularly the grievous number of deaths and injuries at present," he said. Mitchell was the US's Middle East peace envoy until last May.
A state-run Syrian newspaper antagonized U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in an editorial on Saturday, accusing the U.N. of encouraging "terrorist" rebel attacks in Syria by focusing their criticisms on the Syrian government. "The continued disregard of the international community and its cover for armed groups' crimes and terrorist acts ... is considered as direct participation in facilitating and carrying out the terrorism to which Syria is subjected," the editorial read.