Syria unrest: US 'wanted international support'

Former US state department spokesman PJ Crowley says it may have taken until now for the US to demand the resignation of Syria's president because it needed international support.

The UK, France and Germany added their voices to the call for Mr Assad to step down over his crackdown on protesters in his country.

PJ Crowley told the BBC it was easy to raise support against, "Libya, a fringe country; Gaddafi had no friends in the region".

In comparison, he said Syria "sits at the heart of the region" and it had taken longer to "marshal that kind of international condemnation".