UN chief presses for Syria aid as ceasfire largely holds

PanARMENIAN.Net - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday pressed Russia and the United States to do more to ensure the delivery of much-needed aid to Syrians as a ceasefire was largely holding, AFP reports.

Besieged civilians were still waiting desperately for relief in Syria's war-battered second city of Aleppo, with 20 UN aid trucks stranded on the Turkish border over security concerns.

Russia said the Castello Road -- the key supply route into Aleppo -- had come under mortar fire, threatening the withdrawal of Syrian troops which had been set to begin at 0600 GMT on Thursday, September 15.

The truce that began at sundown on Monday, agreed after marathon U.S.-Russia talks in Geneva last week, is part of the latest bid to end a five-year conflict that has killed more than 300,000 people.

Ban said he was in talks with Russia and the United States to turn up the pressure on all sides to guarantee the security of the UN aid convoy.

"It's crucially important (that) the necessary security arrangements should be given so that they can be allowed to cross the lines," said the UN secretary general.

"I have been urging the Russian government to make sure that they exercise influence on the Syrian government, and also the American side to make sure that Syrian armed groups, they also fully cooperate."

Aleppo is in desperate need of humanitarian aid after weeks of heavy fighting. The eastern neighbourhoods, where some 250,000 people live, have been under government siege for most of the past two months.

The convoy of aid was supposed to head towards the city on Wednesday, but Ban said the security arrangements were still not in place despite the truce.

"They are at the border with Syria. They are still there," he said.