(CBS/AP) PARIS - The United States and its international partners called Friday for global sanctions against Bashar Assad's regime, seeking to step up the pressure after the defection of a top general dealt a blow to the Syrian leader. Washington urged countries around the world to pressure Russia and China into forcing Assad to leave power.
In Paris, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined senior officials from about 100 other countries to win wider support for a Syrian transition plan unveiled last week by U.N. mediator Kofi Annan. Joined by America's allies, she called for "real and immediate consequences for non-compliance, including sanctions," against the Assad regime.
But with neither Moscow nor Beijing in attendance, much remained dependent on persuading the two reluctant U.N. veto-wielding powers to force Assad into abiding by a cease-fire and the transition strategy. Clinton urged governments around the world to direct their pressure toward Russia and China, as well.
"What can every nation and group represented here do?" Clinton asked. "I ask you to reach out to Russia and China, and to not only urge but demand that they get off the sidelines and begin to support the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."
"I don't think Russia and China believe they are paying any price at all — nothing at all — for standing up on behalf of the Assad regime," she added. "The only way that will change is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price. Because they are holding up progress, blockading it. That is no longer tolerable."
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The question, explains CBS News State Department correspondent Margaret Brennan, is whether Russia and China, will finally and completely sever the financial lifeline which is keeping Assad in power.
Secretary Clinton says they've essentially given Assad a free pass by failing to implement sanctions and continuing to import Syrian oil.
The firm message to Moscow and Beijing came as one of Assad's closest allies and personal friends, Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass, abandoned the regime. Tlass was a member of the elite Republican Guards and a son of a former defense minister.
Tlass is the most senior military commander to defect from Syria since the uprising began more than 15 months ago. He was reportedly on his way to Paris on Friday morning.
Frustrated by the difficult international diplomacy, meanwhile, Syria's fractured opposition is seeking quick military actions instead.
"We're sick of meetings and deadlines. We want action on the ground," said activist Osama Kayal in the northern city of Khan Sheikhoun, which has been under Syrian army fire for days. He spoke via Skype from a nearby village.
Hassan Hashimi, general secretary of the opposition Syrian National Council, said he hoped to see a "tough stand" by diplomats, and a no-fly zone to prevent military forces "flying over defected soldiers and civilians and bombarding them."
But military intervention is not on the immediate horizon. U.S. officials say they are focusing on economic pressure, and the Obama administration says it won't intervene militarily or provide weapons to the Syrian rebels for what it considers to be an already too-militarized conflict. Any international mandate for military intervention would almost certainly be blocked by Russia and Moscow in the U.N. Security Council.
U.S. officials say a U.N. resolution could be introduced next week, but one that only seeks further economic pressure on Assad's government. Even the chances for that action are unclear, with Russia and China effectively watering down Annan's blueprint for transition at a conference in Geneva last weekend. It granted Assad veto over any interim government candidate he opposes. The opposition gained the same power.
Brennan reports that Syrian activists now claim more than 16,000 people have been killed since the revolt began, but Russia and China aside, they face another massive hurdle in trying to topple Assad; disunity.
Recent remarks from rebel commanders and spokespeople on the ground in Syria show that the divisions within the opposition movement are massive, with the armed factions expressing little to no faith in the SNC or other political groups.
On Thursday, a Local Coordinating Committee member, fighting against the regime in the northern Idlib province - which is now largely controlled by the rebels - told Al Jazeera that the opposition's political leaders should, "come and help cure one of the wounded or fight with the rebels. That would most certainly be more useful than taking part in your failing conferences."
Free Syrian Army spokesman Ahmed Qassem told al-Arabiya on Thursday, using even stronger language, that the Syrian National Council and other "opposition groups abroad" do not represent the Syrian people and were not authorized to speak on behalf of "their revolution."
Clinton clearly recognizes the divided opposition as a problem in finding a solution to the crisis, and she hinted at the theme in Paris on Friday, urging all parties to get fully up to speed on the latest proposals and demands on the Syrian regime from international negotiators.
"It would be very helpful to get everyone on the same page if we're going to get everyone together about what we need to get done, and what we need to do going forward," said Clinton.
