Advertisement

Merkel, Obama: more UN action needed in Syria

Author thumbnail
Merkel, Obama: more UN action needed in Syria
Photo: DPA

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Barack Obama agreed in a telephone call on Wednesday that "more resolute" UN Security Council action was needed in Syria, the White House said.

Advertisement

The call took place amid accelerating international diplomacy hours before a ceasefire deadline set by Kofi Annan for an end to 13 months of operations against Syrian rebels by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, which have killed thousands of people.

"The President and Chancellor shared the concern that the Assad government was not complying with the terms of the agreement negotiated by Kofi Annan and continued to engage in unacceptable brutality against its own people," a White House statement said.

"They agreed that this underscored the need for the UN Security Council to come together to take more resolute action."

Syria earlier announced that it would cease military operations against rebel fighters from Thursday.

UN envoy Annan said he had received a written pledge from Damascus that regime forces would halt their operations from dawn, provided they did not come under attack.

But the opposition and foreign governments said there was no sign of compliance on the ground by the regime as its forces continued to pounded protest centers, killing 14 civilians on Wednesday, according to monitors.

Obama and Merkel also expressed hoped that Iran would take advantage of talks in Turkey with world powers Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States which start on Saturday to address concerns about its nuclear program.

"They also reiterated their common resolve to increase the pressure on the Iranian regime through sanctions and other measures if it remained unresponsive," the White House statement said.

AFP/jcw

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also