U.N. calls for action on Syria; U.S. official likens Assad regime to ‘dead man walking’

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged world powers on Wednesday to act “in the name of humanity” against Syria’s crackdown on dissent, as a U.S. official likened the Damascus regime to a “dead man walking.”

Activists said Syrian forces killed another 21 civilians on a day when the U.S. State Department’s special coordinator on Middle East affairs Frederic Hof told U.S. lawmakers that “change is surely coming to Syria.”

Ban told reporters in New York that the status quo in Syria – where security forces on Wednesday reportedly shot dead civilians, cut power lines and conducted raids and arrests – “cannot go on.”

“In the name of humanity, it is time for the international community to act”, he said.

He said he had sent a U.N. Human Rights Council report on President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown to the Security Council, which could increase pressure on it to act against Syria, where crimes against humanity may have been committed.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged world powers on Wednesday to act “in the name of humanity” against Syria’s crackdown on dissent, as a U.S. official likened the Damascus regime to a “dead man walking.” Read More