German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on the UN Security Council late Thursday to speak out against the Syrian regime's violent repression of protests, dpa reported.
"The council should send a clear warning to the leadership in Damascus, to prevent a continuation of the senseless murder," he said in a high-level debate about preventive diplomacy.
Conflict prevention is one of the most important mandates of the council, the United Nation's highest body, Westerwelle said at the meeting, which was attended by heads of state and government of its 15 members.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon listed the latest successes of the UN achieved by diplomatic means, citing the transition to democracy in Guinea, and an end to violence in Kenya and Kyrgyzstan.
In a unanimously approved declaration, the Security Council said it would work further to improve the effectiveness of diplomatic intervention to defuse potential and acute conflict.