Westerwelle wants Assad to stand trial at ICC

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he wants Syrian leader Bashar Assad to stand trial at the International Criminal Court, which tries genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, "The best thing would be for Assad to appear," at the court based in The Hague, he told German Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag. But he added: "If one can prevent fresh deaths by Assad's voluntary exit, legal proceedings for me would not have greater importance." "This would certainly be against my sentiment for justice but the most important thing for me is to stop these deaths and ensure a democratic and peaceful future for Syria," he said. Westerwelle again voiced his opposition to a foreign military intervention in Syria saying it "will only heighten problems" and violence. Syrian forces shelled rebels in battle-scarred Aleppo Saturday and blasts rocked Damascus, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the regime's downfall to be speeded up. Monitoring groups say the conflict has now claimed over 21,000 lives.