Obama blasts Syria's Assad for "outrageous" violence

Reuters, WASHINGTON | Fri Apr 22, 2011

President Barack Obama steps off Marine One to board Air
Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles,
California, April 22, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Jim Young)

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama called on the Syrian government on Friday to stop using "outrageous" violence against demonstrators and accused President Bashar al-Assad of seeking help from Iran.

"This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now," Obama said in a statement.

"Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria's citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies."

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland)

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