18/08/2011 10:30
Assad tells UN chief military operations have ‘stopped’
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told UN chief Ban Ki-moon that military operations against protesters have "stopped", a UN spokesman said, according to BBC.
He was responding to a demand from Mr Ban during a phone call that "all military operations and mass arrests must cease immediately," the UN's Farhan Haq said in a statement.
Mr Assad has come under mounting international pressure to end his violent crackdown on demonstrators.
Hundreds have been killed since March.
In the latest assault, Syrian forces fired on parts of the port city of Latakia, killing dozens and driving some 5,000 Palestinian refugees from their camps.