Berne:
International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi is due to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a visit to Syria, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday.
The UN chief reiterated his call for the Security Council to take action on Syria and for world powers to use their influence over the two warring sides to halt the 17 months of violence in which more than 20,000 have been killed.
"Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi is going soon to have meetings with Syrian authorities, including President Assad," Mr Ban told a news conference in the Swiss capital Berne.
Mr Brahimi said on Monday he would make his first visit to Damascus since taking the post in a few days and hoped to meet Mr Assad but said he was not sure.
The uprising has polarised global powers, preventing effective international intervention, and is turning increasingly sectarian with the risk of it spilling over into adjacent Arab states with similar communal divisions.
"All member states must have a sense of common responsibility in addressing this kind of situation in Syria where human rights, human dignity are abused and violated," Mr Ban said, speaking alongside Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
"I have been urging the Security Council should be united and all the regional neighbouring countries should also be fully united. In that regard, we will have to continue to work toward that direction," he added.
© Thomson Reuters 2012