UN: Assad Says He's 'Stopped' Crackdown

Apparently, "stopped" means "continue killing protestors much as before" to Bashar al-Assad.

The United Nations says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claims his forces have stopped firing on civilian protesters, although the few reports emanating from the Middle Eastern country suggest otherwise. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon apparently told Assad over the phone that he must halt his mass arrests and wanton killing of civilians, to which the head of state said he would comply. It's worth keeping in mind here that this is the same guy who's promised new reform measures almost every week since the Syrian uprising started back in March, yet has presided over the deaths of at least 1,800 civilians and has laid siege to just about every major city in his country except for the capital, Damascus, so it's kind of tough to take Assad at his word. Reports suggest as many as 18 people have been killed today in the port of Latakia and the city of Homs. U.S. President Barack Obama is set to announce that Assad must leave office (it only took him five months to get here), while the UN is considering laying charges against Assad for crimes against humanity.