Aid arrives in Syria as leaders act on joint mission

CHEAUROUX - Humanitarian aid sent by France and Russia arrived in Syria on Saturday as the two countries' leaders discussed a joint mission to distribute much-needed relief supplies in a ravaged former rebel enclave.

The joint humanitarian aid operation - the first between Russia and a Western country - was agreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and French leader Emmanuel Macron during talks in St. Petersburg in May.

A Russian Antonov-124 Ruslan military cargo plane carrying more than 40 tons of medical aid and humanitarian supplies arrived at the Russian military base in Hmeimim after departing from the central French city of Chateauroux early on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The aid, including medicine, medical equipment, clothes and tents, will be given to residents of eastern Ghouta on the fringes of the capital Damascus, which was retaken by government forces in April after a five-year siege.

It will be distributed under the supervision of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid.

Russian representatives and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent will also participate in the process.

The supplies will also be distributed to hospitals run by the Red Crescent, Moscow said.

On Saturday, Putin and Macron discussed "humanitarian aspects of the Syria settlement" including the joint mission "to render assistance to the population of eastern Ghouta" and other international issues, the Kremlin said.

Undertaken as part of a UN Security Council resolution, "the aim of this project is to enable civilian populations better access to aid", a joint statement said earlier.

"Humanitarian assistance is an absolute priority and must be distributed in accordance with principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence across all Syrian territory without exception," it added.

France had secured "guarantees" from Russia that the Syrian government would not obstruct the distribution of the aid, and that it would not be misappropriated or used for political purposes, the Foreign Ministry said.

Evacuation

Meanwhile, A new group of rebels and their families began evacuating on Saturday from the country's southwest, Syrian media said, where the government has gained new ground in its ongoing offensive.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 25 buses arrived at a crossing point to evacuate rebels who refused to accept the government's return to areas they had controlled for years. The government-affiliated Central Military Media also reported on the evacuation, a day after the first group left to the northern province of Idlib, where the opposition still holds sway.

Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Observatory, said around 4,000 people are expected to be evacuated, in accordance with the deal reached that saw rebels surrender villages and towns in the southwestern region amid a military offensive.

Afp - Ap

(China Daily 07/23/2018 page11)