U.N. chief urges Syria to stop using heavy weapons

the associated press

First Published Oct 02 2012 02:30 pm • Last Updated Oct 02 2012 02:31 pm

United Nations • The U.N.’s deputy secretary-general says U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon made a strong appeal to Syria’s foreign minister to stop using heavy weapons against civilians and reduce the violence that is killing 100 to 200 people every day.

Jan Eliasson told reporters Tuesday that Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem "listened very carefully" to Ban during their meeting Monday "and promised to take this back to the leadership in Syria."

Eliasson said the U.N. wants to see the Syrian government take the first step in reducing violence followed by a similar reduction in violence by the opposition.

He said this would "enhance the chances of political movement."

Eliasson said U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will be based in Cairo from next week and should have the "central role" in peace efforts.

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.