DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria said on Sunday it is ready to cooperate with a rare UN Security Council resolution to allow humanitarian access, so long as it respects state "sovereignty."

The foreign ministry also said in its statement that the "root causes" of the humanitarian crisis must be treated, singling out "terrorism" and sanctions placed on President Bashar al-Assad's regime by Western and Arab countries.

The UN Security Council, which has been sharply divided over the nearly three-year-old Syrian conflict, unanimously adopted a resolution Saturday calling for humanitarian aid convoys to be allowed access across the war-torn country.