UN considers Syrian offer to use border crossing for aid delivery

UNITED NATIONS :The UN is considering an offer from the Damascus government for the world body to use the Bab al-Hawa border crossing to deliver aid into northwest Syria through Turkey, a spokesman said.

Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, confirmed that the would body has received a letter from Syria's Permanent Mission to the UN, granting permission to use the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Security Council on Tuesday failed to re-authorise the Syria cross-border humanitarian aid delivery mechanism through Bab al-Hawa.

A draft resolution tabled by Brazil and Switzerland, the co-penholders on the Syria humanitarian file, was vetoed by Russia.

A competing draft resolution tabled by Russia failed to win enough positive votes.

"I'll just confirm to you that we did indeed receive the letter. We are continuing to look at it and we are consulting with a number of partners on this," Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

"That being said, we are committed to delivering life-saving assistance to millions of people in need in Northwest Syria, guided by humanitarian principles and using all available means and delivery modalities," he added.

The spokesman didn't say why the UN cannot accept the Syrian offer outright as the world body is already using two other border crossings temporarily authorized by Damascus after the massive February earthquakes.

"We're consulting with various partners. We're taking a look at the modalities, what exactly was expressed in the letter," Dujarric told the reporters.

"The letter was a substantive letter, which needs to be looked at. I will ask for your indulgence and your patience," he added.

There have been no crossings at Bab al-Hawa with UN humanitarian aid since the Security Council authorisation expired on Monday.

But the UN had pre-positioned a lot of material in the area before the deadline, he said.