Egyptian Leader Warns Assad
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By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK nyt News Service
12:01 a.m., Sept. 6, 2012
Updated 9:05 p.m. , Sept. 5, 2012
BEIRUT
President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt on Wednesday warned the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, that "your time won't be long," as Syrian warplanes and artillery shelled the battleground city of Aleppo and opposition groups reported heavy fighting around the Euphrates River city of Deir el-Zour.
Morsi, an Islamist and Egypt's first elected president, fired back at Assad just days after the top Syrian government spokesman said that the only change in Cairo since the ouster last year of Hosni Mubarak was Morsi's beard. Morsi has called for nations to come together to support the Syrian opposition and end the bloodshed. His warning added to the acrimony in the region as the Syrian civil war continues to spill blood and pour out refugees.
In Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a meeting of his governing party that Assad had made Syria a "terrorist state."
"The massacres in Syria that gain strength from the international community's indifference are continuing to increase," Erdogan said, according to Reuters.
Morsi, speaking at an Arab League meeting in the Egyptian capital, urged Assad to heed the lessons of "recent history" — the overthrow of dictators in Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Egypt. Step down while you can, he told Assad.
"There is still a chance to stop the bloodshed," Morsi said in the Arab League hall. "There is no room for stubbornness. Don't listen to the voices that tempt you to stay."
