UN chief welcomes Security Council resolution on cease-fire in Syria

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday welcomed the adoption of a Security Council resolution that demands a 30-day cease-fire in Syria.

"I welcome the Security Council's resolution on a cease-fire in Syria and call for all sides to allow the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid," Guterres tweeted.

Resolution 2401 was adopted unanimously by the Security Council on Saturday after two weeks of tough negotiations against the backdrop of escalating violence in the country, particularly in Eastern Ghouta, the last major rebel enclave near capital Damascus.

The resolution demands an immediate cessation of hostilities for "a durable humanitarian pause for at least 30 consecutive days throughout Syria" to enable the safe, unimpeded and sustained delivery of humanitarian aid and services and medical evacuations of the critically sick and wounded.

It demands that, immediately after the start of the cessation of hostilities, all parties shall allow safe, unimpeded and sustained access each week for UN and partners' humanitarian convoys, including medical and surgical supplies, to all people in need in all parts of Syria, in particular to hard-to-reach and besieged locations. Enditem