* Western and Arab powers to meet in Tunis
* Call for Syria to open door to humanitarian assistance
* Failure to act may mean new efforts to stem flow of cash
(Adds senior U.S. official's comments)
LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton suggested on Thursday Syria's opposition will
ultimately arm itself and said she would bet against Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's staying in power.
Speaking directly to Russia and China, which have blocked
U.N. Security Council resolutions designed to end the violence
in Syria, Clinton said the government's "brutality" against its
own people was unsustainable in the internet age.
"The strategy followed by the Syrians and their allies is
one that can't stand the test of legitimacy or even brutality
for any length of time," Clinton told reporters in London.
"There will be increasingly capable opposition forces. They
will from somewhere, somehow, find the means to defend
themselves as well as begin offensive measures," she added.
"It is clear to me there will be a breaking point," Clinton
said. "I wish it would be sooner, so that more lives would be
saved, than later, but I have absolutely no doubt there will be
such a breaking point."
Speaking ahead of a gathering of Western and Arab powers on
Friday, U.S. officials separately said the group planned to
challenge Assad to provide humanitarian access within days to
civilians under assault by his forces.
The officials, speaking before a "Friends of Syria" meeting
expected to gather more than 70 nations and international groups
in Tunis, did not say what specific consequences would follow if
Syrian authorities failed to provide access.
If Assad fails to comply within 72 hours, a senior
administration official in Washington said repercussions from
the Tunis group might include new steps to plug the gap in
sanctions Syria has tried to evade, including efforts to move
money through Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe.
Another possibility, the official said, would be broadening
an arms embargo already enforced by the United States, the
European Union and Turkey, and being more rigorous in forcing
the revocation of insurance for any ships that might carry
weapons to Syria.
ARMING THE REBELS?
The official said members of the "Friends of Syria" group
were likely to pledge specific amounts of aid but did not expect
them to consider arming the opposition. Arab diplomats have
suggested, however, that formal or informal moves to arm the
rebels may be discussed.
The Syrian military pounded rebel-held Sunni Muslim
districts of Homs city for the 20th day on Thursday, despite
international protest over the previous day's death toll of more
than 80, including two Western journalists, activists said.
"One of the things you are going to see coming out of the
meeting tomorrow are concrete proposals on how we, the
international community, plan to support humanitarian
organizations ... within days, meaning that the challenge is on
the Syrian regime to respond to this," said a U.S. official.
For more than a year the Syrian opposition has called for
Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for four decades, to step
down in the latest of the "Arab Spring" uprisings against
authoritarian rulers in the Middle East.
The continued strife reflects both Assad's determination to
remain in office as well as the major powers' inability to agree
on a strategy on whether to try to ease, or force, him out.
Russia has said it will not attend the gathering in Tunis.
Russia has repeatedly said it does not want a resolution to
become a pretext for regime change, something it believes took
place when the Security Council authorized the use of force to
protect civilians in Libya and that ultimately helped drive
former dictator Muammar Gaddafi from power.
Clinton, however, suggested Russia and China may not be able
to sustain their opposition for ever.
"The pressure will build on countries like Russia and China
because world opinion is not going to stand idly by. Arab
opinion is not going to be satisfied watching two nations, one
for commercial reasons one for commercial and ideological
reasons, bolstering a regime that is defying every rule of
modern international norms," she added.
BETTING AGAINST ASSAD
Residents of Homs fear Assad will subject the city to the
same treatment his late father Hafez inflicted on the rebellious
town of Hama 30 years ago, when 10,000 were killed.
"When Assad's father conducted his horrific attacks back in
the early '80s, there was no Internet, there was no Twitter,
there were no social communication sites. There was no satellite
television," Clinton said.
"It's much harder, and thankfully so, to have that level of
brutality - shelling with artillery your own people - not be
known by everyone, most particularly your own people, not after
the fact but in real time," she added.
Clinton did not offer details about what the United States
and its Arab and European allies might do if Assad refused to
let humanitarian aid in, though she spoke of tightening existing
sanctions and possibly considering new ones.
"In the event that he continues to refuse, we think that the
pressure will continue to build," she said. "So it's a fluid
situation. But if I were a betting person for the medium term
and certainly the long term, I would be betting against Assad."
Some U.S. officials have avoided answering questions on
whether the "Friends of Syria" group may discuss arming the
opposition. The United States, in a change in emphasis, on
Tuesday suggested it could become an alternative.
The official in Washington said formally cutting diplomatic
ties with Damascus was not imminent but the United States wanted
to help put the Syrian opposition on the path to legitimacy and
recognition.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; editing by Sophie
Hares and Todd Eastham)
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