Syrian president urges quick aid delivery across quake-hit Syria

DAMASCUS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday urged immediate delivery of relief aid to all areas in Syria struck by earthquakes on Feb. 6, the state news agency SANA reported.

Assad made the call during his meeting with Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, who visited Syria and toured quake-hit areas in Aleppo on Monday before meeting Assad in the capital Damascus.

The president also highlighted the importance of focusing international efforts on helping rebuild the infrastructure in Syria, calling it a matter of urgent necessity for the return of Syrian refugees.

For his part, Griffiths said the United Nations seeks to support the relief efforts and meet the humanitarian need of the Syrians.

The twin earthquakes measuring 7.7- and 7.6-magnitude that rocked Syria on Feb. 6 have so far killed about 5,300 people in the government-controlled and rebel-held areas, according to the latest figures released by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The United Nations said on Friday that the earthquakes had displaced 5.3 million people in Syria.