ABC News(WASHINGTON) — White House press secretary Sean Spicer said that he can’t see Syria become stable without President Bashar al-Assad leaving power, but he stopped short of saying that Assad had committed war crimes by attacking his own people with chemical weapons.
“I can’t imagine a stable and peaceful Syria where Bashar al-Assad is in power,” Spicer told reporters at his daily briefing on Monday. “We’re ensuring that ISIS is contained — and the proliferation of chemical weapons — at the same time creating the environment for a change in leadership.”
Still, he stopped short of labeling Assad a war criminal during today’s briefing. “I think that there is a court that decides those things,” Spicer told reporters. “That would be something for a court to decide.”
President Trump did accuse Syria of violating the chemical weapons ban during his statement after the bombing. “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the chemical weapons convention and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council,” he said.
The president ordered a missile attack on an airfield in Syria last week after Assad chemical weapons, killing at least 87 civilians including 31 children.
Syria has denied carrying out a chemical attack.
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