Syria, United Nations | featured news

The United Nations gave its starkest warning yet on Friday that it would soon run out of cash to cope with the vast influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan and other neighboring countries.

An inquiry will begin “as soon as practically possible” over allegations that the weapons were used in Aleppo Province, said the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Lebanon should consider setting up transit centers to absorb the waves of refugees fleeing neighboring Syria and may have to establish formal refugee camps if the influx continues, a United Nations refugee official said.

The United Nations’ human rights chief said Wednesday that more than 60,000 people have been killed in the bloody conflict in Syria, a figure that far exceeds even estimates given by opposition groups after nearly two years of fighting.

The UN refugee agency warned Thursday there could be as many as 700,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the war-torn nation by the end of the year as it stepped up its call for emergency funding.

The U.N. refugee agency says the number of Syrian refugees seeking its help now tops a quarter-million. Agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says 253,106 people have registered or are awaiting registration as Syrian refugees.

The United Nations on Friday confirmed that veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi would become the new international mediator on Syria, as the 17-month-old conflict slid deeper into civil war and refugees fled to Turkey in increasing numbers.

Syrian forces have pushed rebels back from a strategic district of Aleppo, but skirmishes continued in the city and the United Nations said the conflict engulfing Syria would have no winner.

Syrian fighter jets fired on rebel positions in the commercial capital of Aleppo on Wednesday, U.N. observers told The Associated Press, a development that could signal a significant escalation in the battle for control of the key city.

UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's top deputy, Nasser al-Qudwa, called on Syrian opposition groups on Monday to formulate a unified set of demands that would allow for better cooperation with the international community in searching for a solution to the political crisis in Syria.