(16 Aug 2012) STORYLINE:
The United Nations' humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has expressed frustration at Syria's reluctance to allow more major international aid groups into the country because of Syrian fears that relief supplies could reach rebels.
Amos arrived in Beirut on Thursday where she met with the Lebanese Minister of Social Affairs, Wael Abu Faour.
She told reporters after her meeting that she was not able to persuade the Syrian government to allow international NGOs (non-governmental organisations) to operate in the country.
"What I have not been able to persuade the Syrian authorities to do is to allow some of the bigger international NGOs, who we need to help us to meet the needs of that number of people, to allow those agencies into the country," she said.
Amos added that Syrian officials were concerned that aid might reach what they called "armed groups" and "terrorists".
During her prior three-day visit to Syria, she said that more than one million (m) people are now living in destitution and perhaps a million (m) more have urgent humanitarian needs because of the widening impact of the ongoing crisis.
As the fighting in Syria deepens, so do the fears of it triggering unrest in fragile Lebanon, which is deeply divided between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad's regime.
The country, which was devastated by its own 15-year civil war that Syria was deeply involved in, has witnessed clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian groups over the past months, mostly in the northern city of Tripoli.
Syrian rebels have adopted a new tactic recently of seizing prisoners from countries or foreign groups allied with the regime to rattle Assad and his allies outside the country.
In east Lebanon on Thursday, anti-Assad regime protesters blocked the international road to Damascus near the al-Masnaa border crossing in retaliation to the alleged kidnapping of several pro-Free Syrian Army supporters by armed Shiite clansmen.
Masked men were seen searching cars and asking passengers for identification documents.
Shiite clansmen said on Wednesday that they had captured more than 20 Syrians and will hold them until one of their relatives seized by rebels inside Syria is freed.
The tensions were a stark reminder of how easily Syria's civil war could spill over to neighbouring states.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
