Arab leaders doing too little, too late: UN chief tells AFP

UNITED NATIONS: Arab leaders faced by uprisings this year have always come out with too little, too late, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in an interview with AFP on Wednesday.

Ban said he has urged Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to carry out reforms "before it is too late", and that he hoped for a ceasefire in Libya but that the humanitarian crisis there is worsening.

"Why I have been troubled in the last several months is that leaders in the region have come out always too late, too little," Ban said in the interview.

Leaders confronted by the Arab spring uprisings must make concessions to have any hope of "winning the hearts and minds of people," he said.

"If you look at all the situations happening across the Arab world and North Africa, there is one common desire: that is genuine freedom.

"People have been oppressed under authoritarian rule for the past three or four decades. Now they believe that it is high time for rights to be respected and their aspirations to be heard."

Ban said Arab leaders must listen more closely to the "aspirations and challenges" of their own people. "They can resolve this, they can give greater freedom and liberty to these people."

Ban told last week how has argued with the Syrian president during their telephone conversations. "Why do you keep calling me?" he quoted Assad as saying.

On top of the telephone conversations with Assad and meetings with Syria's UN ambassador, Ban told in the interview how he had also tried to meet other regional leaders who could influence the Syrian president.

"I have been urging president Assad to engage in dialogue and before it is too late, try to take bold and decisive measures to meet the expectations of people. Why I have been troubled in the last several months is that leaders in the region have come out always too late, too little."

In Libya, Ban said the immediate aim was to achieve an immediate and verifiable ceasefire. The UN chief said that his special envoy to Libya, Abdul Illah al-Khatib has been "working very hard" but he had no progress to report from efforts to sway Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi.

"In view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation, the crisis is getting worse." Ban said he was very concerned about Misrata, under siege from Qadhafi forces for more than two months and where hundreds have been killed. "The situation is getting very bad," he said.