Abdullah II

King Abdullah becomes the first Arab leader to openly say President Assad should stand down, urging Assad to begin talks on an orderly transition of power and warning there will be more of the same if whoever replaces him does not change the status quo.

If Bashar has the interest of his country [at heart] he would step down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and start a new phase of Syrian political life. That’s the only way I would see it work and I don’t think people are asking that question.