Iraq's cabinet on Tuesday decided to provide humanitarian aid to war-torn Syria and launch a relief campaign via the Iraqi Red Crescent, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

The cabinet decided "to provide humanitarian aid and begin a popular campaign of humanitarian relief for the brotherly people of Syria, via the Iraqi Red Crescent," Dabbagh said, without providing further details.

"The campaign includes collecting donations to support families that were harmed, and try to reach all (affected) Syrians and refugees, wherever they are," Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki's spokesman Ali Mussawi told AFP.

A protest movement in Syria has descended into an all-out civil war between supporters and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, which the UN says has killed 20,000 people and and forced 250,000 to flee the country.

Iraq has pointedly avoided calling for Assad's departure from office, and has instead urged an end to violence by all parties.

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