Red Cross chief headed to Syria, to meet Assad: ICRC

GENEVA, Switzerland – The new head of the International Committee of the Red Cross will travel to Damascus on Monday, September 3, and will meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the following day (Tuesday, September 4), his office said.

“Peter Maurer arrives today (Monday) in Syria for a three-day visit, the first since he took up his duties as president on July 1,” the ICRC said in a statement.

During his visit, Maurer will meet Assad, as well as Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and several other ministers “to discuss pressing humanitarian issues,” it added.

“At a time when more and more civilians are being exposed to extreme violence, it is of the utmost importance that we and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent succeed in significantly scaling up our humanitarian response,” Maurer said in the statement.

“It is vital that we build on what has already been achieved on the ground,” he added.

The talks will largely deal with the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria, as well as the difficulties the ICRC and the Red Crescent face as they try to reach people affected by the armed conflict, the ICRC said.

The Syrian authorities have so far maintained severe restrictions on the operations of aid agencies despite the escalating crisis, and have rejected calls for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor.

More than 26,000 people have died in Syria since the outbreak of an anti-regime revolt in March last year, according to figures from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. – Agence France-Presse