UN Syria Aid Blocked by Assad Regime, Opposition Disarray

Syrians are dying “silently” as United Nations aid organizations face a regime unwilling to lift bureaucratic impediments and a fractured opposition unable to ensure security for access routes, the world body’s top humanitarian assistance official said.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government hasn’t agreed on providing more visas for international aid workers, streamlining customs procedures and taking steps to improve border security, Valerie Amos, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, told the UN Security Council yesterday.