(CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday accused the Syrian regime of a “divide-and-conquer strategy” aimed at setting the country’s religious and ethnic groups against each other.

Addressing the U.N. Security Council, Clinton acknowledged the fears of minorities in Syria about what the future may hold, and laid the blame squarely at the feet of President Bashar Assad and “his cronies.”

“Now, fears about what follows Assad, especially among Syria’s minority communities, are understandable,” she said. “Indeed, it appears as though Assad and his cronies are working hard to pit Syria’s ethnic and religious groups against each other, risking greater sectarian violence and even descent into civil war.”

Many Mideast experts would agree that Assad – like the departed Libyan and Egyptian regimes – has stoked fear among religious and ethnic minorities about what will confront them if he is toppled, convincing them that he is the only alternative to chaos.

For decades Assad and his father, President Hafez Assad, packed the senior ranks of the military with members of their minority Allawite Shi’ite sect – not the Sunni majority – to ensure loyalty.

But some church leaders in Syria and Christian advocacy groups abroad have also expressed concern about violence directed at the Christian minority during the anti-Assad uprising – not from the regime but from Islamist elements among those opposing the regime.

Clinton in her remarks spoke several times about the regime’s role in stoking sectarian tensions, but did not say directly that some in the opposition camp may be targeting minorities.

“The future of Syria as a strong and unified nation depends on thwarting a cynical divide-and-conquer strategy,” she said. “It will take all Syrians working together – Alawis and Christians hand-in-hand with Sunni and Druze, side-by-side Arabs and  Kurds – to ensure that the new Syria is governed by the rule of law, respects and protects the universal rights of every citizen, regardless of ethnicity or sect, and takes on the widespread corruption that has marked the Assad regime.

“For this to work,” Clinton continued, “Syria’s minorities will have to join in shaping Syria’s future, and their rights and their voices will have to be heard, protected, and respected. And let me say directly to them today: We do hear your fears and we do honor your aspirations. Do not let the current regime exploit them to extend this crisis.”

Clinton traveled to New York along with her French and British counterparts in a bid to persuade fellow permanent Security Council members Russia and China to drop their opposition to a resolution supporting a proposal for Assad to step down.

Without mentioning Russia or China by name, Clinton urged the Security Council to set aside differences and support the draft resolution, which backs an Arab League plan for “a negotiated, peaceful political solution to this crisis and a responsible, democratic transition in Syria.”

“We all have a choice,” she said. “Stand with the people of Syria and the region or become complicit in the continuing violence there.”

Addressing Russia’s declared concerns that a resolution could lead to military intervention to force regime change – as occurred in Libya last year – she called any Syria-Libya comparison “a false analogy.”

“Syria is a unique situation that requires its own approach, tailored to the specific circumstances occurring there,” Clinton said. “And that is exactly what the Arab League has proposed – a path for a political transition that would preserve Syria’s unity and institutions.”

Last October, Russia and China both vetoed a resolution drafted by the council’s European members condemning the violence in Syria.

The current resolution is more far-reaching in that it backs the Arab League transition plan, calling on Assad to hand over power to his vice president who would then form a national unity government with the opposition. By contrast, last October’s draft merely encouraged the Arab League to “continue efforts aimed at ending the violence and promoting such an inclusive Syrian-led political process.”

Despite this, Clinton and other backers of the new draft are hoping Arab support will make the difference although Russian officials have shown no sign of being swayed.