Dhaka: UN chief Ban-Ki-moon on Tuesday asked Syrian President Bashar-al Assad to stop crackdown on civilian protesters in his country and said he was in constant discussion with Arab leaders to resolve the crisis.
"It is crucially important now that President Assad immediately stop killing his own people," he told a press conference in Dhaka at the fag end of his four-day Bangladesh tour.
The UN Secretary General, who earlier hailed the Arab League for suspending the country`s membership, said he was in constant discussion with the body on the Syrian issue and asked the Arab states to exercise their "leadership" in resolving the crisis "as soon as possible".
"This is a source of great concern not only for the region but for the whole international community, for democracy and humanity," he said as the Syrian regime appeared to have intensified violent actions against protesters.
Rights activists said more than 70 people were killed in violence across Syria yesterday in one of the bloodiest days since the anti-regime protests began eight months ago.
Asked for comments on the Libyan situation, he expressed hope that the interim leadership would be able to form a cabinet to run the country towards a smooth transition after the fall of Gaddafi regime. "It is beginning of the end and not the end of the beginning," he said.
He also said that the United Nations was ready to offer technical and logistic support for staging credible elections in Bangladesh but urged politicians to "look beyond party lines" and focus on the future of the country.
"UN is ready to provide any technical and logistic assistance to hold the (scheduled) 2014 elections in a credible manner," he said when asked if the United Nations would offer mediation to resolve the political standoff on the issue of establishing a caretaker government to hold elections.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina`s ruling Awami League scrapped the system of the caretaker government in line with a Supreme Court verdict but the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has vowed not to take part in the polls unless the system is restored allowing a non-party interim government to oversee the general elections. The top UN executive said during his talks with Prime Minister Hasina and opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia he told them that all differences of opinions among them should be resolved through dialogue.
"Since 2008, Bangladesh has achieved great progress for democracy. However, there is much to be done (and) the next elections should be held in a credible manner," he said.
In his introductory prepared statement, Ban, however, praised Bangladesh`s progress in the health sector particularly in reducing maternal and child mortality as well as in women empowerment, contribution to the UN peacekeeping operations and carbon neutral policy calling the South Asian nation a model for other countries.
"Bangladesh is in the frontline of development challenges and also in the frontline of development solutions," he said.
PTI