Assad must stop violence, UN chief repeats after latest crackdown

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday renewed his appeal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop the violence against civillians after reports of a new military crackdown just a day earlier.

Ban, speaking to reporters in northeast Japan, said that he had delivered a strong message to Assad in a phone conversation on Saturday ahead of his report on Syria to the Security Council due on Aug. 10. "I hope he takes that situation very seriously and takes necessary measures respecting the will of the people," the UN Secretary General said when asked about latest signs that Assad continued to defy international pressure. (Reuters)