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Head of UN Syria Panel Calls for Arms Embargo

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FILE - People inspect a site hit by what activists said was an airstrike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Qadi Askar district in Aleppo, Syria, July 21, 2014.
FILE - People inspect a site hit by what activists said was an airstrike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Qadi Askar district in Aleppo, Syria, July 21, 2014.

The head of a United Nations panel on Syria is calling for a worldwide arms embargo on the war-torn country.

Brazilian diplomat Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told U.N. radio Friday that the arms race must stop and member states have to stop sending weapons to all sides.

Pinheiro said all parties in Syria are committing horrendous human rights violations and no one is being held to account.

He stressed that there can be no military solution, only a negotiated settlement.

Syria's civil war is in its fourth year with no end in sight. Moderate and extremist rebels trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad have also turned against each other jockeying for power.

U.N. relief officials say more than 100,000 civilians have been killed in Syria, with over 4 million displaced within the country. More than 10 million Syrians are in need of assistance, including at least 2 million who have fled the country. Many Syrian cities are in shambles.

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