LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The United Nations'
humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on Friday she was still
waiting for permission from the Syrian authorities to visit
Damascus to seek access for humanitarian relief.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he
would dispatch Amos to Syria "soon" to try to secure access for
aid workers, but Amos said Damascus had yet to respond, despite
a worsening humanitarian situation.
"We are waiting to hear," Amos told Reuters in London. "I
very much hope it will be in the next few days...I am ready to
go at a moment's notice."
Thousands of civilians have been killed in a crackdown on a
near year-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. The
city of Homs has been subjected to a sustained bombardment by
Assad's forces for three weeks.
"I do think the situation is deteriorating," she said. "It
is clear people are hurt, running out of food, healthcare is a
problem, there are cities that are under siege. We need an
urgent assessment of what's going on."
Amos said Russia and China, which vetoed a U.N. resolution
condemning the crackdown by the Assad government, could help the
drive to gain access for emergency relief.
"Russia and China could use the links that they have with
the Syrian authorities to persuade them that a visit from me
would be helpful," she said.
Foreign ministers from Western and Arab nations were in
Tunis on Friday for the first meeting of the "Friends of Syria"
group and were expected to demand on that Syria allow aid to be
delivered to civilians in the absence of international resolve
to intervene in the conflict.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on
Friday it had not had any reply from Syrian authorities on its
request for a truce to allow in aid supplies and evacuate the
wounded.
"The ICRC still has not had feedback on its initiative from
Syrian authorities. We are more and more concerned over
humanitarian needs that are increasing by the hour," said ICRC
spokesman Hicham Hassan.
(Reporting by Rosalind Russell, editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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