(CNN) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a phone conversation Wednesday that military and police operations in Syria had stopped, according to a U.N. statement.

The secretary general's office released a read-out of the conversation during which Ban also expressed alarm at reports of human rights violation in Syria, the statement said..

During the conversation, al-Assad told Ban that "the military and police operations in Syria have stopped," it said.

Al-Assad has been under enormous international pressure to end a months-long military crackdown on anti-government protesters calling for free elections and an end to his regime.

Opposition protesters have repeatedly accused al-Assad of trying to crush the uprising with the use of military force.

CNN's Joe Vaccarello, Nada Husseini and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.