By Luisa Marquez

The group says it wants to negotiate a brief truce in the most affected areas to allow it to deliver aid packages.

Correspondents say the fact that the ICRC has spoken publicly about the negotiations shows just how concerned it is by the situation in Syria.

Thousands have died there in an 11-month uprising against the government.

ICRC spokesman Bijan Farnoudi said the group was discussing several possibilities to enable humanitarian aid to be delivered.

He said the aim of the discussions was to facilitate swift Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC access to the people in need.

The Red Cross indicated that any such ceasefire would probably be only for a limited period, possibly only a few hours.

The ICRC has been delivering food and medicine to civilians in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

It is the only international aid agency operating inside the country, but it has had difficulty reaching the areas badly affected by the conflict.

Human rights groups believe more than 7,000 people have been killed since the uprising began.

The Syrian government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have died fighting militants.

Syria restricts access to foreign media and it is not possible to verify casualty figures.