Red Cross chief heads to US to discuss Guantanamo, Syria

ICRC chief Jakob Kellenberger will discuss Syria and Guantanamo Bay with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other officials in Washington, the relief agency said Wednesday. During the two-day visit from Wednesday, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross will also meet US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta. "I am particularly interested in discussing the current state of affairs in connection with detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay," said Kellenberger ahead of the visit. "I am also keen to share views on humanitarian concerns in the ICRC's key operational contexts" including the situation in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, he added. Kellenberger has been pushing for a daily truce in Syria to allow aid to be sent in to the strife-hit country where over 9,000 people have been killed in a year-long revolt, according to UN data. On Wednesday, UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accepted his six-point peace plan, which includes a call for the two-hour humanitarian ceasefire.