by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch and agencies

The president of the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has demanded “immediate access” to parts of Syria hit by violence.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army has begun a military operation to restore security in the town of Jisr al-Shughour near the Turkish border, state television said on Friday, as the country braced for more pro-democracy demonstrations.

ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger appealed to Syrian security forces and protesters to respect human life and treat those arrested in line with international law.

“Despite repeated requests to the Syrian authorities, we have not been granted meaningful access to those in need. We are determined to assist people who are having to cope with the violence,” the former senior Swiss diplomat said in a statement.

He said he was prepared to travel to Damascus in person to meet the authorities.

The ICRC, which has six expatriate and 20 local staff based in Syria, has made limited visits to the towns of Daraa, Tartous and Homs together with members of the Syrian Red Crescent in the past month, explained ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan.

“But they were so short that we were not able to really know what was going on or the real magnitude of the problems,” he told swissinfo.ch.

Having no figures on the humanitarian situation was a “big obstacle”, he added.

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