UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced disappointment on Monday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rejection of peace talks in a defiant weekend speech that anti-government rebels described as a renewed declaration of war.
Ban was "disappointed that the speech by President Bashar al Assad on 6 January does not contribute to a solution that could end the terrible suffering of the Syrian people," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said of the president's Sunday speech at the Damascus Opera House.