Al-Arabi: UN mission impeded by violence

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al-Arabi on Thursday called for an immediate halt to violence in Syria so that UN envoy Kofi Annan could find a peaceful political solution to the Syrian crisis. The League chief also called for an end to the regime's assaults so emergency medical aid could be offered to affected areas. At a meeting in Geneva on Monday, former UN chief Annan met foreign ministers Ali Akbar Salehi (Iran), Alain Juppé (France) and Sergei Lavrov (Russia) for talks over the Syrian crisis. Al-Arabi, in a statement published in the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) said more bloodshed could lead to civil war. He stated that all regional and international parties, especially member states of the Security Council must bear the responsibility of stopping the situation from deteriorating further by issuing a ceasefire resolution and overseeing its application.