EU pushes UN to take a stand on Syrian violence

AFP - EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday urged the UN Security Council to take a "clear stand" to end the violence in Syria.

"It is time for the Security Council to take a clear stand on the need to end the violence," Ashton said after the deaths this weekend of more than 100 people in what human rights activists said was the deadliest day of violence in Syria this year.

Ashton's statement also welcomed a decision to hold an emergency session of the UN Security Council later Monday "to address the serious escalation".

She also confirmed European Union sanctions against five Syrians "involved in or associated with the violence."

"I wish to remind the Syrian authorities of their responsibility to protect the population," she said. "The brutal violence creates a serious risk of escalating tension and factional divisions and is not consistent with broad reforms."