Insight

Or else what? THE answer to that question has stymied Western and Arab leaders for months, as they try to find a way to force President Bashar Assad to halt his lethal crackdown against Syria’s 14-month uprising, which has so far killed more than 9,000 people. Again on Thursday, the details of what repercussions the Syrian leader could suffer if he flouted a week-old cease-fire arrangement remained vague, after French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé met in Paris with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 12 other Foreign Ministers, including those from Turkey, Germany, Qatar and Egypt.