UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls on Syria’s president to stop the bloodshed

UN chief Ban Ki-moon calls on Syria’s president to 'stop killing people'
BRASILIA, Brazil — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called on Syria’s president to stop the bloodshed in his country and engage in dialogue before it’s too late.

Since protests began in Syria in March against more than four decades of rule by President Bashar Assad’s family, about 1,400 civilians have been killed, according to human rights activists there. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon smiles during a meeting with Brazil’s Foreign Minister Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, unseen, at Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday June 16, 2011. Ban Ki-moon is on a two-day visit to Brazil.

Speaking to journalists in Brazil, his last stop in a South America tour that included Colombia, Argentina and Uruguay, Ban called on Syria’s president to 'stop killing people' and told reporters that he’d urged Assad to 'engage in inclusive dialogue and to take bold measures before it’s too late.'