Egypt's new Islamist president Mohamed Morsi called for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power Monday, Reuters reported. “Now is the time to stop this bloodshed and for the Syrian people to regain their full rights and for this regime that kills its people to disappear from the scene," Morsi said. The 61-year old former Muslim Brotherhood member spoke to Reuters before traveling this week to China and Iran. He also said that Assad’s allies must help lever the Syrian leader out of power. "There is no room to talk about reform, but the discussion is about change," Morsi said, adding Egypt had repeated that "the friends of the Syrian people in China and Russia and other states" need to back ordinary Syrians. Meanwhile, the Obama administration disagreed with French President Francoise Hollande's plan for the Syrian opposition to form a provisional government, saying it was premature when the opponents to Syrian President Bashar Assad are still fractured.
