UN’s Jaafari: Syria committed to UN statement, aid facilitation

Syria’s UN ambassador Bashar Jaafari welcomed the UN Security Council statement but said it would be up to the Damascus government now to decide how to help the UN. "Damascus is committed to providing all kinds of assistance for rescue teams and is committed to the Security Council statement," Jaafari said on Wednesday, Al-Manar reported. In a presidential statement adopted unanimously on Wednesday, the council urged all sides of the conflict to help UN agencies and private aid groups "to take immediate steps to facilitate the expansion of humanitarian relief operations." UN aid agencies say there are more than 2.1 million refugees outside the country, almost six million have fled their homes inside the country and they have not had access to about two million trapped civilians for several months. The statement says there should be "unhindered humanitarian access" across the conflict lines "and, where appropriate, across borders from neighboring countries". The Syrian government has opposed aid missions from neighboring countries, saying the supplies will go to rebel forces. UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has been pressing the Security Council for several months to act on the growing crisis. Amos said after the statement was agreed that it meant more effective work could be done but that humanitarian workers in Syria have to be "protected". "Our task now is to turn these strong words into meaningful action," Amos told reporters. "If the commitments and practical steps in this statement are implemented, humanitarian workers will be able to reach over two million people who have been unreachable for many months," Amos said.