Geir Otto Pedersen, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria underlined that the emergency response in Syria "must not be politicized" following "one of the most catastrophic earthquakes the region has seen in about a century."

He said: "Emergency response must not be politicized."

"We must instead focus on what is needed urgently to help men, women and children, those who we can still save, those whose lives are devastated by one of the most catastrophic earthquakes the region has seen in about a century."