Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem (centre R) talks with UN
Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (centre,L)in Damascus
(Reuters)
The
Syrian government has approved access to seven besieged areas and UN
convoys are expected to set off in days, the United Nations says after
crisis talks in Damascus.
UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, who won the
green light at talks with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, said on
Tuesday (local time) that the world body would test the government
commitment to allow access on Wednesday but gave no details.
Their meeting in Damascus came at a time when
government forces have been advancing rapidly with the aid of Russian
air strikes, and just days before an internationally agreed pause in
fighting is due to take effect.
De Mistura said they had discussed the issue of humanitarian access to areas besieged by all sides in the five-year war.
"It is clear it is the duty of the government of
Syria to want to reach every Syrian person wherever they are and allow
the UN to bring humanitarian aid," de Mistura said in a statement.
"Tomorrow we test this."
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) said that Syria had approved access to Deir al-Zor; Foua
and Kafraya in Idlib; and Madaya, Zabadani, Kafr Batna and Mouadamiya
al-Sham in rural Damascus.
"Humanitarian agencies and
partners are preparing convoys for these areas, to depart as soon as
possible in the coming days," the OCHA said.
It was not immediately clear whether the convoys would begin on Wednesday, as de Mistura had indicated.
Nor was there any indication of a breakthrough on access to areas besieged by armed opposition groups.
UN-backed
peace talks are scheduled to resume in Geneva on February 25, after de
Mistura suspended a first round earlier this month.
Last
Friday global powers meeting in Munich agreed to the pause in fighting
in the hope that this could allow the talks to resume, but the deal does
not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by the
Syrian warring parties.
Syria's ambassador to the
UN in Geneva, Hussam Aala, said in an interview in the daily Tribune de
Geneve: "We have done all we could to facilitate the passage of aid
convoys in January and February."
"The advance of
the Syrian army in this region has allowed us to break the siege
imposed against two towns, Nubul and al-Zahra. It opened the way for the
Syrian Arab Red Crescent to deliver aid to 70,000 residents. Our
objective was to cut all the supply routes for arms and for men to the
terrorist groups armed by Turkey."
AAP
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