Wellington, May 7 (Xinhua-ANI): New Zealand on Monday offered to deploy more military observers in strife-torn Syria, among other further support for the international effort to maintain a ceasefire.
New Zealand had offered the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria a team of five New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel, who would replace two NZDF personnel temporarily redeployed to the mission if the offer were accepted, said New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.
"New Zealand welcomes the UN Security Council's decision to authorize a team of up to 300 unarmed military observers to monitor the ceasefire in Syria," McCully said in a statement.
"This mission must make the most of the window of opportunity provided by the ceasefire to help stabilize the situation."
New Zealand would also provide 1 million NZ dollars (792,016 U. S. dollars) to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to help support more than 30,000 Syrians who had fled to Turkey, McCully said.
New Zealand Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said the five NZDF personnel were already undergoing pre-deployment training which would be completed by the end of week.
"From the weekend they will be placed on stand-by ready to deploy on 24 hours notice. Their exact duty locations as military observers have yet to be determined," he said in the statement.
In response to a UN request last month, New Zealand temporarily redeployed two of the seven NZDF staff from the UN Truce Supervision Organisation in Israel and Syria to join an advance UN monitoring team of up to 30 personnel in Syria.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution last month to create a new mission in Syria with an additional 300 UN military observers. (Xinhua-ANI)
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