US President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on the United Nations Security Council to sanction Syria over brutal crackdowns against pro-democracy demonstrators, DPA reported
"For the sake of Syria - and the peace and security of the world - we must speak with one voice.
There is no excuse for inaction. Now is the time for the United Nations Security Council to sanction the Syrian regime, and to stand with the Syrian people," Obama told the UN General Assembly.
He praised the advances in democracy achieved across much of the Arab world earlier this year.
"Something is happening in our world. The way things have been is not the way they will be. The humiliating grip of corruption and tyranny is being pried open," Obama told the United Nations General Assembly.
He pointed to the ouster of leaders in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and the Ivory Coast.