15/10/2012

Syria conflict: Brahimi seeks Iran help to secure truce


 UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has appealed for Iranian help to implement a ceasefire in Syria over the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Following a visit to Tehran, Mr Brahimi said such a ceasefire could "allow a political process to develop".

Turkey says it is now housing more than 100,000 Syrian refugees in its camps.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, have backed Mr Brahimi's efforts and approved fresh sanctions on Syria.

The sanctions include a freeze on the assets and travel bans on 28 Syrians and two firms.

Inside Syria, the Umayyad Mosque in the old city of Aleppo was reported to have been badly damaged in fighting between government forces and rebels over the weekend.

Syrian TV reported that President Bashar al-Assad had ordered immediate repairs to the mosque, which is the most important in the city and lies within the Unesco world heritage site.

Unesco had appealed last week for the protection of "one of the most beautiful mosques in the Muslim world", as government forces and rebels struggle for control of Syria's second city.

Turkey said it had searched an Armenian plane taking aid to Syria, after it made a planned landing.

A spokesman was quoted as saying that Turkey wanted to check that the plane was not carrying military equipment before letting it continue its journey to the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Last week, Turkey forced a Syrian plane to land, claiming that it was carrying Russian-made "munitions" for the Syrian army. Syria and Russia denied the plane was carrying anything illegal.


Source: BBC

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