U.N. Chief Urges Syria's Assad to Make Reforms

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday to make credible reforms "without delay," after the Syrian leader offered a national dialogue to end months of anti-regime protests.

"He urges the president to carry on these reforms without delay and in a way that is both genuine and credible," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The reforms, he said, "should be part of a broad and inclusive process of change and democratization."

Assad on Tuesday declared a new general amnesty, a day after an offer of a national dialogue that could lead to a new constitution and even an end to his Baath party's nearly five-decade monopoly on power -- a key opposition demand.

But the president said he would refuse to reform Syria amid "chaos," after demonstrations which began some four months ago prompted a crackdown by security forces that have cost hundreds of lives.