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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Clashes rage around Yarmouk, PLO officials tackle blockade |
| 2014-05-06 |
| [Beirut Daily Star] Clashes raged Monday in the Yarmouk neighborhood in southern Damascus around the Paleostinian refugee camp as the latest mediation effort got underway to end the regime blockade of the rebel-held area. Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, met with a Paleostinian delegation led by PLO officials Zakaria Agha and Ahmad Majdalani, the Paleostinian labor minister, state news agency SANA said. Syrian authorities say that the camp is being "blockaded" by gangs, while opposition supporters level the same charge at government military forces. Agha expressed his satisfaction with the "ongoing consultation and coordination" of the Syrian and Paleostinian leaderships and "the necessity of seeing the exit of fighters and their organizations" from Yarmouk. Prior to his trip, Agha had declared the latest visit to the Syrian capital would follow-up on previous meetings to find a solution for deteriorating conditions in the camp, where dozens have died due to malnutrition and lack of medical treatment. He also stated that "pending issues related to Paleostinian refugees, such as those who have been detained and those who have disappeared," would also be raised during his meetings with Syrian officials. Fighting between gangs based in the camp and regime troops claimed the life of one man Monday, according to the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group of activists. UNRWA front man Chris Gunness used words such as "frustrating" and "utterly ashamed" in describing the pace of aid distribution over the last two days. He said the distribution was interrupted Monday by a bout of gunfire, which injured a civilian and saw only 162 food parcels passed out to camp residents. "Only 180 civilian families received food in Yarmouk. I feel utterly ashamed. We all should," he tweeted, describing Sunday's aid effort targeting an estimated 40,000 camp inhabitants. |
| Posted by:Fred |