UN calls on Syria to stop attacks

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Syria on Thursday to stop its attacks, asking Damascus to implement Annan's blueprint, which includes a cease-fire that should have taken effect on April 12 but has been violated daily ever since.

"We are there to record violations and to speak out so that the perpetrators of crimes may be held to account," Ban told a summit of the Alliance of Civilizations, a forum promoting understanding between the Western and Islamic worlds, days after more than 100 people were massacred in Syria's central Houla region.

Ban said that UN envoy Kofi Annan has expressed his concern that a "tipping point" may have been reached in Syria.