Syria at "threshold moment": Red Cross chief

GENEVA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The head of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, said Wednesday that after seven years of violence, Syria is at something of a "threshold moment" and he believed "we are entering a post-battle era".

However, the ICRC president, who visited Syria in March, told journalists here that there are no certainties about the end of the seven-year Syrian conflict as the situation could either turn to consensus to end the war or "a very dangerous situation".

"The whole negotiation at frontlines is much more connected to global power relations and this is a complicating factor in developing neutral and impartial humanitarianism," said Maurer.

"The humanitarian effort drives us," said the ICRC president, noting that the agency "can't do just the minimal" as "we have to do some rehabilitation."

"The ICRC will not become a reconstruction agency," said Maurer. "That is not our task. We will remain a neutral humanitarian agency."

He said there was "still a political divide in the international community on reconstruction."

The ICRC could, however, help in rehabilitation in the war-torn country where the Syrian health system was operating at about 40 percent of its pre-war capacity.

"When we are bringing in a mobile clinic," said Maurer.

He added, "we have a chance, with a little bit of support, to bring back a little bit of normalcy in Syria," and to bring people back to their communities rather than simply providing emergency assistance. Enditem