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United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon believes the crisis in Syria is worsening. Though President, Bashar-al-Assad, insists that his government is in the process of withdrawing troops ahead of April 10, the deadline set by the UN, the year-long uprising till now has left at least 9 000 people dead, News24 reports. "Cities, towns and villages have been turned into war zones and the sources of violence are proliferating," Ban told the UN General Assembly. He appealed to Assad "to show vision and leadership" and pull troops and heavy weapons out of cities. He also requested the opposition to be ready to stop all violence if the Syrian Government meets the deadline. After a group of activists reported that Syrian troops had attacked the Damascus suburb of Douma and claimed that the Syrian President was intensifying violence in the days before the deadline, Ban spoke about the issue in the UN Assembly. UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said that Syria has informed him of partial withdrawals from three locations - Idlib, Zabadani and Daraa, but it was clear that more immediate and stringent action is needed. Russia and China , who have already rejected two Security Council Resolutions, have condemned Assad's crackdown on protesters, and have ruled out any mention of possible sanctions against Syria.

UN chief says Syria crisis worsening