US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Thursday for the UN Security Council to adopt a global arms embargo and other tough measures against Syria to reinforce existing Western embargoes if the country fails to abide by a cease-fire designed to end 13 months of bloodshed.

 

Clinton stopped short of calling for outside military intervention in Syria but said it was time to impose more consequential measures on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

 

"We have to keep Assad off balance by leaving options on the table,'' she told a Paris meeting of top Western and Arab diplomats from the so-called "Friends of Syria'' group.

 

Clinton's address made clear the U.S. has little faith in the success of special envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan. But although US policy has amounted to an acknowledgment that Assad is unlikely to be dislodged, the UN resolution Clinton seeks could strengthen Syrian rebels fighting the Syrian strongman.