UN urges end to Syria killings after another 50 die

UN chief Ban Ki-moon Saturday urged Syria immediately to end attacks on civilians, a day after dozens of people were killed in a fierce crackdown on dissent and 17 troops died in clashes with suspected army deserters.Bans appeal follows condemnation by the Arab League of the deaths of 36 people on Friday activists said were killed by security forces during mass protests calling for the imposition of a Libya-style no-fly zone on Syria.A rights watchdog meanwhile said another four civilians were killed on Saturday and that fighting flared again between troops and suspected defectors after clashes overnight killed 17 soldiers.Ban appeals for military operations against civilians to stop at once, said his spokesman Martin Nesirky.The violence is unacceptable and must stop immediately, he added. The calls of the Syrian people for change must be answered with far-reaching reforms, not repression and violence.Fridays violence, the worst in months, prompted fresh condemnation from the foreign ministers of the 22-strong Arab League, which has been trying to broker an end to the unrest that has rocked Syria since anti-regime protests erupted in March.The Arab ministerial committee expressed its rejection of the continued killings of civilians in Syria and expressed its hope that the Syrian government will take the necessary measures to protect them, they said in a statement.