'Friends of Syria' mull UN cease fire resolution

TUNIS - Delegates at the Friends of Syria Conference on Friday in Tunis are mulling a United Nations cease fire resolution to guarantee access of humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians.

The call for the resolution was launched by the Arab League (AL) Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi, who also proposed a "common priority reaction" to the permanent members of the Security Council with a view "to put an end to the bloodshed currently taking place in Syria."

Arabi said that the AL would respect Syria's sovereignty, and refuse any form of foreign intervention so as to prevent civil war and meet the aspirations of the Syrian people towards freedom and political reform.

According to Arabi, the resolution on the Syrian crisis is based on two imperatives, namely, putting an end to the killing of civilians and the launch of a political process between the opposition and the Syrian government.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Kofi Anan, former UN Secretary General, as a joint UN-Arab League envoy to broker a peaceful resolution to the conflict, which could represent one of the "last chances" to set up a road map and a time frame in order to move Syria out of the current stalemate, Arabi said.