UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will hold talks with Arab League leaders in Cairo on Sunday and wants to visit Damascus in the days after.

UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will hold talks with Arab League leaders in Cairo on Sunday and wants to visit Damascus in the days after, his spokesman said in New York.  Ibrahimi is working on final details of a visit, spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told Agence France Presse.

The talks at the Arab League headquarters will be Brahimi’s first official trip to the region since taking over from former UN chief Kofi Annan.

“We are working on the final details of a plan to visit Damascus and it will happen quite soon if all the details fall into place,” Fawzi said.

According to UN diplomats, Brahimi has been seeking guarantees that he will get a proper meeting with Assad before going.

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers meeting in nearby Cyprus called for a massive boost in aid to Syrian civilians amid mounting fears the humanitarian crisis could affect Europe.

As Brussels announced an extra 50 million euros ($63 million) for civilians trapped in the conflict, the ministers opened a two-day meeting in the resort of Paphos, barely 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Syria.

In related news, the United Nations almost doubled its humanitarian appeal for Syria to $347 million, estimating that more than 2.5 million people need food and medical help.

France was expected to urge its partners at Friday’s talks to find ways to help funnel medicines, cash and other resources to civilians trapped in rebel-held areas.