WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is expected to call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power, an appeal that could come as early as Thursday and that would be echoed by the European Union, sources said on Wednesday.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States also may lay out plans to impose additional U.S. sanctions on Syria, whose government has engaged in a brutal crackdown against protesters seeking an end to the 41-year rule by Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad.

The sources said that the U.S. appeal could come on Thursday and would quickly be followed by similar calls from others, notably the EU.

Washington has been edging closer to an explicit call for Assad to go since Syrian protesters began to demonstrate against his rule in March, inspired by revolts that toppled autocratic rulers in Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year.

The United States held off initially in hopes that Assad might reverse course and embrace democratic reforms, a possibility that U.S. officials appear to have given up on.

As recently as last week, however, U.S. officials said U.S. President Barack Obama was leaning toward an explicit call for Assad’s departure but they made clear they wanted other nations to make a similar appeal.

The expected U.S. and European Union action comes as the United Nations’ human rights chief is expected to propose on Thursday that Syria’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters be referred to the International Criminal Court.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday for the first time called on countries to stop buying Syrian oil and gas as it sought to build pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end a brutal crackdown against protesters.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted the United States might be making some headway in persuading European nations, China or India to curtail their energy ties with Syria, saying “stay tuned” when asked what progress Washington had made.

Clinton has said the best way pressure Syria to stop crushing protests against the 41-year Assad regime was by sanctioning its oil and gas sector but that this was largely up to other nations because there is little U.S. involvement.

Syrian forces shot dead 13 protesters on Friday, activists said, as tens of thousands demanded Assad’s overthrow chanting “we will kneel only to God.”

Defiant protest marches unfolded across the country including in the cities of Hama and Deir al-Zor, both of which have been stormed in tank offensives launched by Assad during the holy month of Ramadan.

Speaking at a news conference with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, Clinton stopped short of explicitly calling for Assad’s departure. On Thursday, she suggested the United States wanted other nations to join in such a call.

“We urge those countries still buying Syrian oil and gas, those countries still sending Assad weapons, those countries whose political and economic support give him comfort in his brutality, to get on the right side of history,” she said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday for the first time called on countries to stop buying Syrian oil and gas as it sought to build pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end a brutal crackdown against protesters.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hinted the government might be making some headway in persuading European nations, China or India to curtail their energy ties with Syria, saying “stay tuned” when asked what progress Washington had made.

Clinton has said the best way pressure Syria to stop crushing protests against the 41-year Assad regime was by sanctioning its oil and gas sector but that this was largely up to other nations because there is little U.S. involvement.

Syrian forces shot dead 13 protesters on Friday, activists said, as tens of thousands demanded Assad’s overthrow chanting “we will kneel only to God.”

Defiant protest marches unfolded across the country including in the cities of Hama and Deir al-Zor, both of which have been stormed in tank offensives launched by Assad during the holy month of Ramadan.

Speaking at a news conference with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, Clinton stopped short of explicitly calling for Assad’s departure. On Thursday, she suggested the United States wanted other nations to join in such a call.

“We urge those countries still buying Syrian oil and gas, those countries still sending Assad weapons, those countries whose political and economic support give him comfort in his brutality, to get on the right side of history,” she said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The narrow U.S. escape from default and its credit downgrade have added to a perception that the United States is in decline, a view that could weaken Washington’s influence abroad.

A debate about whether U.S. power is waning has smoldered since at least the 1970s, when the Vietnam War, the Watergate political crisis, two oil shocks and stagflation combined to raise deep questions about the United States’ strength.

While such assessments are partly subjective, the spectacle of Washington waiting until the last moment last week to raise the debt ceiling and of Standard & Poors’ then taking away its coveted AAA credit rating have buttressed the case of those who argue that U.S. power, in relative terms, is declining.

“This, combined with other things, has definitely led to a diminution … in the standing of the United States in the world and in respect for it,” said Paul Kennedy, a Yale University historian whose 1988 analysis “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers” suggested a relative erosion in U.S. power.

“As long as it … cannot get its fiscal house in order, it’s going to be a crippled sort of giant,” he added.

However, James Dobbins, a former American diplomat now at the Rand Corporation, said any tarnishing of the U.S. reputation was likely to be transitory.

“It has some short-term effect,” he said. “The longer term will depend more on fundamentals, whether the economy does go into some sort of nose-dive or not, rather than the more effervescent impact of a particular political confrontation.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The narrow U.S. escape from default and its credit downgrade have added to a perception that the United States is in decline, a view that could weaken Washington’s influence abroad.

A debate about whether U.S. power is waning has smouldered since at least the 1970s, when the Vietnam War, the Watergate political crisis, two oil shocks and stagflation combined to raise deep questions about the United States’ strength.

While such assessments are partly subjective, the spectacle of Washington waiting until the last moment last week to raise the debt ceiling and of Standard & Poors’ then taking away its coveted AAA credit rating have buttressed the case of those who argue that U.S. power, in relative terms, is declining.

“This, combined with other things, has definitely led to a diminution … in the standing of the United States in the world and in respect for it,” said Paul Kennedy, a Yale University historian whose 1988 analysis “The Rise and Fall of Great Powers” suggested a relative erosion in U.S. power.

“As long as it … cannot get its fiscal house in order, it’s going to be a crippled sort of giant,” he added.

However, James Dobbins, a former American diplomat now at the Rand Corporation, said any tarnishing of the U.S. reputation was likely to be transitory.

“It has some short-term effect,” he said. “The longer term will depend more on fundamentals, whether the economy does go into some sort of nose-dive or not, rather than the more effervescent impact of a particular political confrontation.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russia on Wednesday laid out a “step-by-step” approach under which Iran could address questions about its nuclear program and be rewarded with a gradual easing of sanctions.

The proposal, described by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after talks with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, seeks to revive negotiations to put to rest Western suspicions that Iran may be seeking nuclear arms.

Talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany, in Geneva in December and in Istanbul in January, failed to make headway on reining in Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran says is peaceful.

Lavrov said Russia had proposed a “phased” process in which Iran would take steps to address the concerns of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

“The response to each specific step of Iran would be followed by some reciprocal step, like freezing some sanctions and shortening the volume of sanctions,” Lavrov said at a news conference with Clinton.

He acknowledged differences between the Russian and U.S. stances on the issue, describing it as “yet another example of the fact that there are problems on our agenda.”

Clinton did not directly address a question on her views about easing sanctions in a phased approach but Washington has been resistant to this on the grounds that doing so would give up what leverage it has over Tehran.

MADRID/TRIPOLI, July 3 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped up Western calls on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to quit, brushing off his threat to attack Europeans in their homes and offices.

“Instead of issuing threats, Gaddafi should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step down from power and help facilitate a democratic transition,” Clinton told reporters on a trip to Spain.

In an address relayed to some 100,000 supporters in Tripoli’s Green Square on Friday, Gaddafi urged NATO to halt its bombing campaign or risk seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe “like a swarm of locusts or bees.”

“Retreat, you have no chance of beating this brave people,” Gaddafi said.

“They can attack your homes, your offices and your families, which will become military targets just as you have transformed our offices, headquarters, houses and children into what you regard as legitimate military targets,” he said.

NATO announced it had stepped up strikes on Gaddafi forces in west Libya including the capital Tripoli, saying it had carried out more than 50 attacks since Monday.

Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said the alliance stance was unchanged.

MADRID/TRIPOLI, July 2 (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped up Western calls on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to quit, brushing off his threat to attack Europeans in their homes and offices.

“Instead of issuing threats, Gaddafi should put the well-being and the interests of his own people first and he should step down from power and help facilitate a democratic transition,” Clinton told reporters on a trip to Spain.

In an address relayed to some 100,000 supporters in Tripoli’s Green Square on Friday, Gaddafi urged NATO to halt its bombing campaign or risk seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe “like a swarm of locusts or bees.”

“Retreat, you have no chance of beating this brave people,” Gaddafi said.

“They can attack your homes, your offices and your families, which will become military targets just as you have transformed our offices, headquarters, houses and children into what you regard as legitimate military targets,” he said.

NATO announced it had stepped up strikes on Gaddafi forces in west Libya including the capital Tripoli, saying it had carried out more than 50 attacks since Monday.

Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said the alliance stance was unchanged.

TRIPOLI/MADRID (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed to attack “homes, offices and families” in Europe in revenge for NATO airstrikes but U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said he should quit instead of issuing threats.

In a telephone address relayed to some 100,000 supporters in Tripoli’s Green Square, Gaddafi urged NATO to halt its bombing campaign or risk seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe “like a swarm of locusts or bees”.

Gaddafi, who along with his son and spy chief faces an international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity, has vowed to fight to the end and branded the NATO operation a colonial aggression aimed at securing Libya’s oil riches.

“Retreat, you have no chance of beating this brave people,” Gaddafi said in his address broadcast on Friday.

“They can attack your homes, your offices and your families, which will become military targets just as you have transformed our offices, headquarters, houses and children into what you regards as legitimate military targets,” he said.

“If we choose, we can descend on Europe like a swarm of locusts or bees. We therefore advise you to retreat before you face catastrophe.”

Clinton on Saturday brushed off Gaddafi’s remarks and stepped up calls on him to quit.

TRIPOLI/MADRID (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi vowed to attack “homes, offices and families” in Europe in revenge for NATO airstrikes but U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said he should quit instead of issuing threats.

In a telephone address relayed to some 100,000 supporters in Tripoli’s Green Square, Gaddafi urged NATO to halt its bombing campaign or risk seeing Libyan fighters descend on Europe “like a swarm of locusts or bees.”

Gaddafi, who along with his son and spy chief faces an international arrest warrant for crimes against humanity, has vowed to fight to the end and branded the NATO operation a colonial aggression aimed at securing Libya’s oil riches.

“Retreat, you have no chance of beating this brave people,” Gaddafi said in his address broadcast on Friday.

“They can attack your homes, your offices and your families, which will become military targets just as you have transformed our offices, headquarters, houses and children into what you regards as legitimate military targets,” he said.

“If we choose, we can descend on Europe like a swarm of locusts or bees. We therefore advise you to retreat before you face catastrophe.”

Clinton on Saturday brushed off Gaddafi’s remarks and stepped up calls on him to quit.