World 'must help Arab uprisings'

The UN’s top human rights official has called on the world to back the popular revolts shaking the Middle East.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said: “The international community bears the great responsibility of extending its support in words and deeds.”

She told the UN’s Human Rights Council today that the world must help the protesters quickly cement new changes “before former entrenched interests begin to reassert themselves, or new threats emerge.”

Ms Pillay said protesters were worried that the international community too often put stability, the status quo and trade in valuable natural resources ahead of essential human rights.

Foreign ministers from around the world are gathering in Geneva at the Human Rights Council to discuss the uprisings in Libya and other nations.