United Nations, Rabi'II 20, 1433, Mar 13, 2012, SPA - The U.N. Security Council’s monthly meeting on the Middle East was dominated Monday by discussion of the (current) situation in Syria U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Council said “The Syrian government has failed to fulfill its responsibility to protect its own people, and instead has subjected citizens in several cities to military assault and disproportionate use of force,” Ban said. “These shameful operations continue. Sustained attacks against Idlib, Homs, and elsewhere in the country have killed scores of people over the past couple of days, including women and children.” Foreign Secretary William Hague of Britain, the Security Council President this month, called on the Syrian government “to implement its own commitments to the Arab League by stopping military action, withdrawing its forces from towns and cities, releasing all political prisoners, and allowing access to the media, [and] to endorse the work of the Arab League and of Kofi Annan in his role as joint Arab League and U.N. envoy.” --MORE 12:03 LOCAL TIME 09:03 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/979065