U.N., Arab League Leaders Discuss Syria Deadlock
The U.N. and Arab League leaders on Friday discussed deadlocked efforts to end the Syria war and unrest sweeping the Muslim world over a film mocking Islam, a spokesman said.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held talks with his Arab League counterpart Nabil al-Arabi ahead of the U.N. General Assembly next week when Syria is expected to dominate speeches by world leaders.
"They discussed first and foremost the situation in Syria, with its political impasse, widespread human rights abuses, and growing humanitarian crisis," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said of the talks.
U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrives in New York this weekend for talks with Ban on his recent visit to Damascus to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Brahimi, who will meet the U.N. Security Council on Monday, has yet to announce how he will press for an end to the 18-month-old conflict in which activists say more than 29,000 people have been killed.
Ban and al-Arabi also discussed rioting across the Muslim world "following the posting of the irresponsible and provocative video on the Prophet Mohammed, which they condemned, while deploring the violence that ensued," Nesirky added.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Middle East and Asian countries to protest the U.S.-made film and French cartoons depicting the prophet on Friday.
Violence in Pakistan left at least 17 people dead and hundreds injured.
Ban and al-Arabi also "expressed serious concern about the question of Palestine, the lack of progress in peace negotiations, and the alarming economic situation as well as the absence of hope in the occupied Palestinian territory," said the U.N. spokesman.
Source: Agence France Presse
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