Obama Says Assad's Regime Must Face Consequences, Urges Democracy in Egypt

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday demanded that the world take action on Syria, saying that the regime must face consequences after the use of chemical weapons.

Speaking before the U.N. General Assembly, Obama defended his threat of force against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and denounced critics who accuse the United States of inconsistency.

"There must be a strong Security Council resolution to verify that the Assad regime is keeping its commitments, and there must be consequences if they fail to do so," Obama told world leaders.

Obama lashed out at doubters who questioned whether Assad carried out the August 21 chemical attack near Damascus, which U.S. intelligence says killed some 1,400 people.

"These rockets were fired from a regime-controlled neighborhood, and landed in opposition neighborhoods," Obama said.

"It is an insult to human reason -- and to the legitimacy of this institution -- to suggest that anyone other than the regime carried out this attack," he said.

"I do not believe that military action -- by those within Syria, or by external powers - can achieve a lasting peace. Nor do I believe that America or any nation should determine who will lead Syria," Obama said.

"Nevertheless, a leader who slaughtered his citizens and gassed children to death cannot regain the legitimacy to lead a badly fractured country," he said of Assad.

Obama's remarks come as the United States and Russia wrangle over a U.N. Security Council resolution that would accompany an agreement by Syria to give up chemical weapons.

The U.S.-Russia deal at least temporarily halted a push by Obama and supported by France for a military strike on Syria.

Obama also tackled Egyptian politics, warning that continued U.S. support for the country depends on its progress back to a democracy, as it struggles through a political upheaval.

Obama said the United States had "purposely avoided choosing sides" after the military's July 3 overthrow of president Mohammed Morsi, but warned "our support will depend upon Egypt's progress in pursuing a democratic path."

Washington has been watching the unfolding events in Egypt with concern, worried that the new military leadership under General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi may renege on its promise to hand back to civilian rule.

And Obama lashed out at the new military interim government for decisions which he said were "inconsistent" with democracy.

"Morsi was democratically elected, but proved unwilling or unable to govern in a way that was fully inclusive," Obama insisted.

"The interim government that replaced him responded to the desires of millions of Egyptians who believed the revolution had taken a wrong turn, but it too has made decisions inconsistent with inclusive democracy -- through an emergency law, and restrictions on the press, civil society, and opposition parties."

On Monday, a Cairo court banned Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and ordered all its assets seized, in an echo of the prohibition placed on the party under long-time autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak was toppled in the 2011 revolution which saw Morsi come to power as Egypt's first ever democratically elected president.

Earlier this year, Obama put on hold some $1.3 billion in mainly military aid to Egypt as it tracks the course of the political upheavals.

"Of course, America has been attacked by all sides of this internal conflict, simultaneously accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, and engineering their removal from power," Obama said.

"In fact, the United States has purposely avoided choosing sides. Our over-riding interest throughout these past few years has been to encourage a government that legitimately reflects the will of the Egyptian people, and recognizes true democracy."

He vowed that "going forward, the United States will maintain a constructive relationship with the interim government that promotes core interests like the Camp David Accords and counter-terrorism."

Obama also defended his administration's somewhat vague policies towards Egypt.

It was long accused of shoring up the Morsi government despite accusations that it was seeking to introduce Islamic law and deny the rights of civil society.

But when the military ousted Morsi, Washington refused to call his overthrow "a coup."

"Our approach to Egypt reflects a larger point: the United States will at times work with governments that do not meet the highest international expectations, but who work with us on our core interests," Obama said.

"But we will not stop asserting principles that are consistent with our ideals, whether that means opposing the use of violence as a means of suppressing dissent, or supporting the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."