Guy Verhofstadt

Leader of ALDE in the European Parliament:

"The violent government crackdown in Syria "is nothing less than an Arab Tiananmen", he said, comparing it with the bloodshed in China in 1989.

He mocked the EU's blacklist of 13 top Syrian officials now subject to an EU travel ban and asset freeze. He said hundreds of people must go on the list, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Addressing Baroness Ashton, he said "I want you to declare that you give Assad a few days - if he's not stopping what he's doing then freeze the assets of all the Assad family!"

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