Arab League urges UN to join monitoring mission in Syria

Feb 9, 2012, 0:44 GMT

New York - The Arab League intends to return monitors to Syria and has asked the United Nations to join in the mission to end the bloodshed in that country, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

Ban said Arab League Secretary General Nabil el-Arabi called for appointment of special envoy to head the UN-Arab League monitoring mission to Syria.

'For too many months, we have watched this crisis deepen,' Ban told reporters after meeting with the UN Security Council. 'We have seen escalating violence, brutal crackdowns and tremendous suffering by the Syrian people.'

Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a Security Council resolution on Syria that had been backed by the Arab League and Western countries.

'I deeply regret that the Security Council has been unable to speak with one clear voice to end the bloodshed,' he said. 'The failure to do so is disastrous for the people of Syria. It has encouraged the Syrian government to step up its war on its own people. Thousands have been killed in cold blood, shredding President (Bashar al-)Assad's claims to speak for the Syrian people.'

Ban said he fears the worst amid reports of Syrian security forces firing heavy weapons into civilian neighbourhoods in the restive city of Homs.

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