U.N. head demands Syria's Assad stop violence

(AP) 

BEIRUT — The U.N. chief demanded Sunday that Syria's president stop killing his own people and said the "old order" of one-man rule and family dynasties is over in the Middle East on a day when activists said 27 people died.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, delivering the keynote address at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world, said the revolutions of the Arab Spring show people will no longer accept tyranny.

"Today, I say again to President (Bashar) Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people," Ban said.

Ban has been highly critical of the Assad government's deadly crackdown on civilian protesters since the killings began — unlike the U.N. Security Council. That body is deeply divided. The U.S. and European nations demand strong condemnation and possible sanctions against Assad, but Russia and China are opposed.

(Credit: JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

Ban's speech Sunday was his toughest against the continued survival of authoritarian regimes in the face of the growing international clamor for democracy.

Thousands of people have been killed in the government's crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising, which has turned increasingly militarized in recent months with a growing risk of civil war.

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Syria agreed last month to an Arab League plan that calls for a halt to the crackdown, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, such as tanks, from cities, the release of all political prisoners, and allowing foreign journalists and human rights workers in. About 200 Arab League observers are working in Syria to verify whether the government is abiding by its agreement to end the military crackdown on dissent.

Observers visited the coastal city of Banias and the restive town of Maaret al-Numan in northern Syria Sunday, where they were met with thousands of anti-Assad protesters chanting for his downfall.

Amateur video posted by activists on the Internet showed the monitors watching and filming from a balcony as a large protest unfolded on the streets below. "Victory for our revolution!" the protesters shouted.

The monitors also visited the Damascus suburb of Zabadani, which activists say has come under an intense crackdown in the past few days.

"The authorities pulled out tanks and stopped firing just before the observers arrived," said one activist in Zabadani, who declined to be named for fear of reprisals. "But they saw with their own eyes the destruction and fear," he said, adding people took to the streets in huge protests while the monitors were there.

The presence of the observers has not put a stop to bloodshed and the U.S. and many in the Syrian opposition say killings have accelerated. The U.N. says about 400 people have been killed in the last three weeks alone, on top of an earlier estimate of more than 5,000 killed since March.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported Sunday that at least five factory workers were killed when a roadside bomb detonated near the bus they were traveling in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in northern Syria.

The Observatory said 16 other people died in Syria Sunday, 11 of them in the restive central city of Homs.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network said 27 people were killed Sunday. The differing numbers could not be immediately reconciled.

Syria bans most foreign correspondents and limits movement.

"The killings still continue and still there are people arrested," said Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby in Bahrain. He said there will be a meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the end of the week in Cairo to decide on the next steps.

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[MitchReno]

I don't know if the whole story is before us. Come on, a roadside bomb used to blow up workers at a bus stop does not sound like a government method of taking out "protesters". I'm a bit leary of these protesters and their methods.

[speakthetrut]

Iran asked UN to condemn Israel for killing Iran's scientist, a civilian. But UN chief has no tongue; I guess he swallowed it. Hey Ban ki-moon, if you are the UN chief, have a backbone and speak up against terrorist acts of Israel against Iran.

Israel is always complaining about Palestinians provoking them with rockets. Did Iran shoot rockets at you, Israel? Did they? It is long overdue that US stop supporting Israel with money and weapons. They signed nuclear non-proliferation treaty, yet they make all the nukes they want.

Israel was a country I wanted to visit. But not anymore. I encourage every Christian to cross out Israel from their list of travel destinations.

[Stephan2001]

Iranian opposition said it was the Iranian regime who killed the scientist because he expressed opinions against the military nuclear program.
The UN did condemn the killing, but not Israel since it is unclear who did it.
The scientist wasn't someone important enough to be a target for foreign powers.

[speakthetrut]

I guess you weren't around when Israeli covert operations claimed responsibility for the assassination.

By the way, UN did not condemn the killing. It said, "Ban Ki-moon underlined that killing of ordinary people or scientists is not accepatbale and must be condemned". Saying that sort of act should be condemned is completely different from actually condemning it.

If you believe Iran is going to kill their scientists just because he expressed opinion against their nuclear program, then I'm sorry, you watch way too much fox TV.

[beancube2010]

UN should encourage the world population to help syrians to overthrow the Assad regime. Assad wants to be strong fighter then he has to play with stronger opponents (the world community). Let's see how strong he can be. No dynasty and its military is stronger than the world population. Let's see why Assad should have rights to oppress the evolving Syria population.