Syria extends the permit to cross the border after the earthquake for a period of 3 months

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(Reuters) – A Syrian official said on Saturday that Syria has extended permission for the United Nations to use two additional border crossings to provide aid after the earthquake for another three months.

Syria has decided to “extend the permission it granted to the United Nations and its specialized agencies to use the Bab al-Salama and al-Rai crossings for an additional three months, ending on August 13,” according to Bassam Sabbagh, the UN coordinator in Syria. Ambassador, in a tweet.

He added, “This decision comes out of Syria’s keenness to enhance stability and improve the living and humanitarian situation for all Syrians, and comes within the framework of its efforts to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to all those in need in all of Syria.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad initially agreed to open the two crossings for a period of three months beginning on February 13, a week after the earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Parts of the northwest are controlled by groups opposed to Assad in the 12-year civil war.

A United Nations spokesman said on Friday that the Syrian government has asked the Syrian government to extend its approval of crossings to deliver aid to opposition-held areas.

The United Nations said in a statement on Saturday that Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad had conveyed to UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths the decision to allow the United Nations to use the crossings for an additional three months.

(Reporting by Maya Jubaili). Editing by Jason Neely

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