Germany seeks urgent UNSC meet on Syria as India starts presidency

United Nations: Germany has requested that the UN Security Council meet on Monday to discuss the worsening situation in Syria, a spokesman for the German mission at the United Nations said. The request comes even as unconfirmed reports suggest that atleast 145 people may have been killed in a fresh assault by Syrian army tanks on the city of Hama, for long a centre of resistance against the Baath'ist government in Damascus.

Notwithstanding the seriousness of the situation, the request may also have likely brought a chuckle to India's permanent representative in the United Nations, Hardeep Singh Puri, who just the other day mentioned that August, long regarded as a 'quiet' month at the UN when envoys are away on holiday, also has a history of dealing with eruptions of important public events.

''There is a history that things do happen in the month of August - time of the year when normally people are away,'' Puri said in an interview three days back. India holds the rotating presidency of the Council for the month, taking over, incidentally, from Germany, which demitted office on midnight Sunday.

Syria is batting a five-month long uprising against the Baath'ist regime of president Bashar Assad.

German spokesman Alexander Eberl said Germany had asked the Indian mission to schedule closed-door council consultations for Monday. This would likely take place in the afternoon, New York time.

Germany was joined in its move by Italy, which also called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Syria, urging European envoys in Damascus to meet Monday.