UN continuing diplomatic efforts ongoing to solve "ghastly" Syrian crisis

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan De Mistura is continuing to meet with key stakeholders in a bid to find a solution after political peace talks were put on hold in April, it was announced Tuesday.

"De Mistura he continues to travel and speak to people and try his best with the UN Security Council to continue these diplomatic efforts," Alessandra Vellucci, director of the United Nations Information Service, told the press here.

"We can't just stay here and look, and we are not so the efforts are continuing," she added.

Amid ongoing violence and a dire humanitarian situation in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) urged all parties in the five-year Syrian conflict to allow critical aid to reach 275,000 civilians trapped in rebel-held east Aleppo.

The UN has repeatedly warned that the situation in eastern parts of what once Syria's economic hub is particularly alarming.

If all parties to the conflict give the green light, the UN hopes to provide medical supplies, conduct medical evacuations, deliver food and other supplies while sending more medical personnel to eastern districts.

"We need political actors and actors on the ground to create a situation whereby we can implement the UN plan," OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told the media.

The human rights situation in the country has also spiraled out of control since violence broke out in March 2011.

Amid almost daily accounts of people dying horrible deaths across the country, widespread torture, massive detention and thousands of disappearances, a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman said that there is little doubt that both war crimes and crimes against humanity have been perpetrated by all parties to the conflict.

"The situation is ghastly, I've been doing this work for 24 years and with the possible exemption of the Rwandan genocide, I can't think of anything worse that Syria," Rupert Colville said.

"It's hard to overstate the horror of Syria," he added.

An estimated 400,000 people have died during the war pitching forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebel factions seeking to oust him, while millions more have been displaced. Enditem