International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will on Wednesday brief the United Nations Security Council on his efforts to secure a temporary ceasefire in Syria over an upcoming Muslim holiday, dpa reported.
Brahimi will address the 15-member Security Council by a video link from Cairo, according to UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.
"Mr Brahimi is pushing extremely hard, as is the Secretary-General, because this is an extremely important moment," Nesirky told reporters in New York.
Brahimi met President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday during a five-day visit to Syria to try to broker a ceasefire between government forces and rebels over the four-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which starts on Friday.
Kofi Annan, Brahimi's predecessor, quit his mission in August, blaming divisions at the UN Security Council and the Syrian government for failing to implement a ceasefire that never took hold.
Brahimi is to meet Wednesday in Cairo with the head of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi for talks on the 20-month conflict.
On the ground, Syrian troops intensified attacks in the northern province of Idlib to regain control of a strategic town seized by rebels a week ago, said opposition activists.
At least 190 people were killed Tuesday in Syria including 77 in suburban areas of Damascus, reported the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.