UN chief and Turkish FM discuss Syria

The UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, and the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, have met in Lebanon and discussed the "dangerous trajectory" of the crisis in Syria, sources say. The two were in Lebanon on Saturday for a UN conference on democracy in the Arab world as an opposition activist said violence claimed another 15 lives the day before. "They discussed a range of regional matters, in particular the situation in Syria as well as Iran and Cyprus," Martin Nesirky, Ban's spokesman, said in a statement. "The secretary-general said the dangerous trajectory of the crisis in Syria was a source of grave concern." Turkey shares a 910km border with Syria, its former ally. The country has condemned the Syrian government's crackdown on dissent that the UN says has killed more than 5,000 people since it erupted last March. Ban also met several members of Lebanon's pro-Western opposition who oppose the government in Syria, which for 30 years dominated its smaller neighbour both politically and militarily. The meetings with Ban came as Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, called on the Syrian opposition to respond positively to President Bashar al-Assad's "reform plans" and urged dialogue to resolve the ongoing crisis. Addressing a party rally in the town of Baalbek by video link, Nasrallah, who has been in hiding since 2006 for fear of assassination, said: "We call on the Syrian opposition inside and outside Syria to respond to the calls of the dialogue by President Assad and to co-operate with him in implementing the reforms he has announced, which are very important reforms. "We can resolve Syria's problems and we call openly for the return of calm and stability and for arms to be laid down and for resolving issues through dialogue." Nasrallah called on Arab countries, Turkey and Iran to participate in resolving the crisis in Syria. "We call for the unification of efforts by the Arab countries and the Arab League and the influential Muslim countries in the region, Iran and Turkey, to help end the crisis in Syria and not drive people into corners and drive the situation towards an explosion," Nasrallah said. He also dismissed a UN call for his staunchly anti-Western and anti-Israeli group to disarm, saying it was determined to maintain a military capacity to defend Lebanon.