US President Barack Obama has demanded Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 'step aside' and imposed tough sanctions on Damascus.
The sanctions include an asset freeze and ban on US investments in Syria.
‘We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way. He has not led. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside,’ Mr Obama said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron have also called on Mr Assad to resign.
'We call on him to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the Syrian people and to step aside in the best interests of Syria and the unity of its people,' they said in a joint statement.
Elsewhere, top UN officials have told a Security Council that Syrian forces shot dead 26 blindfolded men in a stadium and a boy of 13 was feared killed in government custody.
The 15-nation council was told that the death toll from protests that erupted in March was now past 2,000, sources who attended the meeting said.
President Assad has told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that military and police operations against pro-democracy protesters have stopped.
In a phone call with the Syrian leader yesterday, Mr Ban ‘expressed alarm at the latest reports of continued widespread violations of human rights and excessive use of force by Syrian security forces against civilians across Syria, including in the Al Ramel district of Latakia, home to several thousand Palestinian refugees,’ the UN said in a statement.
‘The Secretary-General emphasised that all military operations and mass arrests must cease immediately. President Assad said that the military and police operations had stopped,’ the statement added.
However opponents of President Assad say his claim that military operations against activists have been halted is false.
Syrian television has shown troops and tanks pulling out of cities, but opposition activists say protesters are still being killed.
The government crackdown is estimated to have killed at least 2,000 civilians since the protests began five months ago.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also is expected to suggest that the UN Security Council refer Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters to the International Criminal Court, envoys said.
The developments were part of a flurry of diplomatic manoeuvres ramping up the pressure on Mr Assad to stop his military and police crackdown.
Residents of the besieged port city of Latakia said yesterday that Syrian forces raided houses in a Sunni district, arresting hundreds of people and taking them to a stadium after a four-day tank assault to crush protests.
Syria has expelled most independent media since the unrest began, making it difficult to verify reports from the country.
Mr Pillay will address the 15-nation UN Security Council in a closed-door session on Syria today, along with UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos.
