Girl known for tweets from Aleppo tells president she will be his friend if he can do something: ‘They are like your children and deserve peace like you’ 
 
 Bana al-Abed, the seven-year-old girl whose tweets from Aleppo gave devastating insights into the Syrian war, has pleaded with Donald Trump to “do something for the children of Syria” in an open letter. 
 
 Bana amassed hundreds of thousands of followers for her messages from war-torn Aleppo sent with the help of her mother, Fatemah. The family were evacuated to Turkey in December and met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan just before Christmas. 
 
 From her new home Bana has written to the US president pleading with him to take action to save Syrian children like her. Her open letter was shared with the BBC by her mother. 
 
 Dear Donald Trump, 
 
 My name is Bana Alabed and I am a seven years old Syrian girl from Aleppo. I lived in Syria my whole life before I left from besieged East Aleppo on December last year. I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war. But right now, I am having a peace in my new home of Turkey. In Aleppo, I was in school but soon it was destroyed because of the bombing. Some of my friends died. I am very sad about them and wish they were with me because we would play together by right now. I couldn’t play in Aleppo, it was the city of death. Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn’t yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you. However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria. They are suffering because of adult people. I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you. If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend. I am looking forward to what you will do for the children of Syria. 
 
 The BBC reported that Bana had written the letter in the days before Trump’s inauguration. 
 
 US military is 'not coordinating airstrikes with Russia in Syria', Pentagon says Read more 
 
 Trump’s position on Syria is not clear but he has made no secret of his admiration for the Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, who supports the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in its six-year war against rebellion. 
 
 The Pentagon – now run by Trump appointee James Mattis – issued a statement on Monday that denied US warplanes had conducted a joint combat mission with Russia in Syria but the White House signalled it was open to doing so in principle. 
 
 The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said Trump would “work with any country that shares our interest in defeating Isis”, including “Russia or anyone else”. 
 
 Two days of peace talks sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey in Kazakhstan this week concluded with a resolution to set up a trilateral monitoring body to enforce the ceasefire that came into effect in December. 
 
 More than 300,000 people – including at least 15,000 children – have been killed in the Syrian conflict, with thousands of others displaced. 
 
 
 
 The Syrian Network For Human Rights reported that nearly 2,000 children were among the estimated 16,913 civilians who died in 2016 alone. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Bana, who is now in Turkey, 
 
 Bana Alabed, the seven-year-old Aleppo girl known worldwide for her tweets from Aleppo, has written an open letter to Donald Trump. 
 
 "You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you," she wrote. 
 
 Bana escaped Aleppo with her family in December during the mass evacuations, and is now living in Turkey. 
 
 Her twitter account became famous for its messages from besieged east Aleppo. 
 
 Her mother, Fatemah - who helps run the account - sent the text of the letter to the BBC. 
 
 She said Bana wrote it days before President Trump's inauguration, because "she has seen Trump many times on the TV". 
 
 Bana Alabed's letter to President Trump 
 
 Dear Donald Trump, 
 
 My name is Bana Alabed and I am a seven years old Syrian girl from Aleppo. 
 
 I lived in Syria my whole life before I left from besieged East Aleppo on December last year. I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war. 
 
 But right now, I am having a peace in my new home of Turkey. In Aleppo, I was in school but soon it was destroyed because of the bombing. 
 
 Some of my friends died. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Seven year-old Bana Alabed: "We had to face falling rocks and heavy suffocating smoke" 
 
 I am very sad about them and wish they were with me because we would play together by right now. I couldn't play in Aleppo, it was the city of death. 
 
 Right now in Turkey, I can go out and enjoy. I can go to school although I didn't yet. That is why peace is important for everyone including you. 
 
 However, millions of Syrian children are not like me right now and suffering in different parts of Syria. They are suffering because of adult people. 
 
 Image copyright Twitter / AlabedBana Image caption Since arriving in Turkey, Bana's Twitter account has turned to calls for fighting to end 
 
 I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you. 
 
 If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend. 
 
 I am looking forward to what you will do for the children of Syria. 
 
 Turkey, where Bana and her family now live, supports the Syrian opposition. But President Trump's position is not yet clear. 
 
 The US president has repeatedly stressed his desire for a strong relationship with Russia, and endorsed Vladimir Putin - who supports Syria's President Assad. 
 
 During the campaign, he spoke of ceasing aid to the rebels - but more recently, he has also spoken of the need for Syrian "safe zones", which would help rebel forces. 
 
 Bana's appeal to the new US president comes as Iran, Russia, and Turkey have jointly pledged to enforce a three-week ceasefire in Syria amid peace talks. 
 
 But without agreement from Assad's government or rebel forces, it is not clear how long any agreement will hold.
– A 7-year-old Syrian girl whose tweets from Aleppo showcased the horrors of war has appealed to President Trump to "do something for the children of Syria." Now living in Turkey, Bana Alabed wrote a letter to the new president days before his inauguration, the BBC reports. "Dear Donald Trump," she writes, "I lived in Syria my whole life (and) ... I am part of the Syrian children who suffered from the Syrian war." Although she is now safe, "millions of Syrian children are not like me," she writes. "They are suffering. … I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria?" Bana's mother, Fatemah, sent the text to the BBC. (Read the full letter here.) Bana opted to make her plea in writing after seeing Trump "many times on the TV," Fatemah says. Like Trump, Bana has a penchant for tweeting—she has 362,000 followers—although hers drove home the terror in besieged Aleppo before her family was evacuated last month as government forces regained control of the city. More than 300,000 people, including 150,000 children, have been killed in the six-year civil war, reports the Guardian. Trump's position on Syria is not yet known. A White House spokesman said the president would "work with any country" committed to fighting ISIS, per the Guardian. The Pentagon, meanwhile, denied on Monday that US warplanes aided a Russian mission in Syria. Russia supports the government of President Bashar al-Assad. (Bana "befriended" JK Rowling.)