“Why I have been troubled in the last several months is that leaders in the region have come out always too late, too little”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said leaders of Arab countries that faced uprisings should make concessions to their people who demand freedom since their reforms are coming too little, too late.

“Why I have been troubled in the last several months is that leaders in the region have come out always too late, too little,” Ban said in an interview with AFP. He referred to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Libya and hoped for an immediate and verifiable ceasefire in that country.

The UN chief said that his special envoy to Libya, Abdul Illah al-Khatib, has been “working very hard” but he has not succeeded in convincing Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to compromise.

Ban said he was very concerned about Misratah, under siege from Gaddafi forces for more than two months where hundreds have been killed. “The situation is getting very bad,” he said.

“If you look at all the situations happening across the Arab world and North Africa, there is one common desire: that is genuine freedom. Leaders confronted by the Arab spring uprisings must make concessions to have any hope of “winning the hearts and minds of people,” he said.

“People have been oppressed under authoritarian rule for the past three or four decades. Now they believe that it is high time for rights to be respected and their aspirations to be heard,” Ban said. Arab leaders must listen more closely to the “aspirations and challenges” of their own people, he said, adding that “they can resolve this, they can give greater freedom and liberty to these people.”