Humanitarian aid Live Blog

12 weeks 1 day ago - Tripoli

 

Libya will donate $100 million in humanitarian aid to the Syrian opposition and allow them to open an office in Tripoli, a government spokesman said on Wednesday, in a further sign of its strong support for forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

Representatives from the Syrian National Council (SNC) visited Tripoli this week after Mustafa Abdel, chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), made the initial offer earlier this month to host an SNC office there.

Libya's new government was one of the first foreign states to recognise the SNC as the legitimate authority in Syria in October - a gesture it said showed solidarity following Libya's own struggle to oust Muammar Gaddafi and end 42 years of autocratic rule. [Reuters]

Tags humanitarian aid, Libya, NTC, SNC, syria
14 weeks 5 days ago - Turkey

Turkey plans to lodge a formal request with the United Nations for a humanitarian operation to help Syrians suffering a "humanitarian tragedy" in their country, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday.

"I gave instructions today to lodge a request with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva on the subject of humanitarian aid," the Anatolia news agency quoted Davutoglu as saying during a visit to Washington.

"Turkey is launching an initiative at the UN office in Geneva to put in place a flow of humanitarian aid towards Syria," he said, lamenting a "humanitarian tragedy" unfolding notably in central Homs and in Zabadani, near the capital Damascus, being shelled by the Syrian army. [AFP]

Tags AFP, ahmet davutoglu, humanitarian aid, OHCHR, syria
33 weeks 4 days ago - Libya

The ICRC delivered medical kits for treating up to 200 people wounded in the fighting to Sirte hospital, as well as fuel to run its generators, the organisation said.

However, a team of four aid workers, who also had security clearance from pro-Gaddafi forces, were not able to go inside the hospital due to heavy gunfire, the spokesman said.

"They went to the hospital but were not able to see patients, they didn't go into the wards," Marcal Izard said.

Doctors at the hospital - which has no power - told the aid workers there were 200 patients inside.

"The conditions under which medical personnel have had to work over the past weeks have been extremely difficult," said Hichem Khadraoui, who headed the operation.

"The hospital is facing a huge influx of patients, medical supplies are running out and there is a desperate need for oxygen. On top of that, the water reservoir has been damaged."

In a statement, the ICRC reminded all parties of their "obligation under international humanitarian law to take all possible measures of precaution in order to spare civilian lives and allow safe access for medical personnel".

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Tags humanitarian aid, Red Cross
33 weeks 5 days ago - Libya

Aid workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) brought medical supplies into ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's besieged hometown of Sirte on Saturday [Reuters]

Tags humanitarian aid, Red Cross
35 weeks 3 days ago - Libya
A Turkish military cargo plane dropping humanitarian aid over the Libyan town of Bani Walid came under fire from the ground, the Turkish news agency Anatolia reported. 

The incident happened when one of two Turkish C-130 transport planes parachuting aid to residents was fired on, the agency said, citing a journalist on the plane.
Tags Bani Walid, humanitarian aid, Turkish military cargo plane
45 weeks 4 days ago - Libya

 

Australia vowed on Sunday to keep up humanitarian aid to Libya, as a senior official from Canberra visited the country for the first time since the revolt against Moamer Kadhafi erupted in mid-February.

Paul Grigson, Australia's deputy foreign affairs and trade secretary, met members of the rebel National Transitional Council for talks, underscoring Australia's role in providing aid and its recognition of Libya's rebel council.
Australia is focusing on the health sector. We are the third largest donor  on the humanitarian side after the US and the EU - Grigson

 

Tags aid, Australia, humanitarian aid, Libya rebels
48 weeks 1 day ago - Libya
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has called for an immediate halt to hostilities in Libya to allow humanitarian aid to reach the population in the strife-torn country.

Frattini called for "an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities" in Libya during a speech to the lower house of parliament.

"With regard to NATO, it is fair to ask for increasingly detailed information on results as well as precise guidelines on the dramatic errors involving civilians," he added.

The call came days after NATO acknowledged the accidental killing of civilians in a Tripoli bombing for the first time on Sunday.

NATO admitted to misfiring in an air strike that Libyan authorities said left nine dead, including two children.

The 28-nation alliance also acknowledged striking a military target in the Sorman area west of the capital which the regime said had killed 15 people, including three children.

Frattini had warned in Luxembourg Monday that NATO's accidental killing of civilians in the Libyan air war was endangering the alliance's credibility.
Tags humanitarian aid, Italy, Muammar Gaddafi, NATO

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