Israeli defense minister: Syrian regime doomed

[June 06, 2011]  JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's defense minister says the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is doomed.

Ehud Barak says Assad, who has launched a deadly crackdown on the Syrian opposition, has lost his legitimacy.

Barak told Israel Radio on Monday that the Syrian president might be able to hang on for several months, but will be severely weakened until he is eventually ousted.

Barak says: "I think Assad will fall."

He added that in the current unstable environment, there is no prospect for renewing the moribund Israeli-Syrian peacemaking. The Israeli defense minister said he believes leaders of Yemen and Libya will also be toppled.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.