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Qatar Emir Shek Hamad bin Kalifa Al-Thani addresses the UN General Assembly in New York/AFP

World

West turns up heat on Iran and Syria at UN

Many Muslim leaders, however, demanded international action to stop religious insults, in a challenge to Obama’s defence of freedom of expression.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, quoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as saying that “everyone must observe morality and public order.”

“Freedom of expression is therefore not absolute,” he added.

Debate in New York in the run-up to the assembly focused on the violence in Syria and the risk that the Iranian stand-off could lead to a broader conflict if Israel or the United States launched a pre-emptive strike.

Ban spoke for many delegates when he called on world powers to put aside their differences and unite behind a plan to pressure the parties to settle their conflicts through negotiation.

The UN chief dubbed the Syria conflict “a regional calamity with global ramifications” and said: “The international community should not look the other way as violence spirals out of control.”

“We must stop the violence and flow of arms to both sides and set in motion a Syrian-led transition as soon as possible,” Ban added.

The 15-nation Security Council has become paralyzed by deadlock over the 18-month-old war, which Syrian activists say has left more than 29,000 dead.

Ban also expressed concerns for the mounting tensions surrounding Iran, denouncing what he called: “The shrill war talk of recent weeks.”

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Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is in New York, shrugged off talk of an attack on his country’s nuclear facilities and said the Islamic republic would not end what it claims is peaceful civilian nuclear research.

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