Washington, Jumada II 25, 1433, May 16, 2012, SPA - The White House Tuesday condemned escalating violence in Syria, saying it was “deeply concerned” after a bomb exploded near a United Nations convoy. “We are deeply concerned by the escalating violence on the ground in Syria and the country’s deepening sectarianism, along obviously with the regime’s failure to allow for a political transition,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “We are using all financial and diplomatic tools available to us to achieve our policy goals. We are increasing pressure on the Assad regime to step aside. We are supporting international efforts to broker a political solution to end the regime’s violence,” Carney said. --SPA 11:32 LOCAL TIME 08:32 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/998851