Germany to continue efforts to isolate Assad

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle reiterated his country’s determination to continue efforts to isolate the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during its presidency of the UN Security Council next month. Westerwelle ,who is now visiting Kong Kong , welcomed the speech of Egypt’s new President Mohamed Morsi at the opening session of the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran on Thursday, where he expressed Egypt’s support for the Syrian uprising. The German minister said Friday that he particularly welcomes Morsy’s direct speech at Assad, noting that signs of the Assad regime’s isolation were clear during the NAM summit. A non-permanent member in the UN Security Council until the end of the year, Germany is set to start Saturday a one-month presidency term over the 15-member body.