THE United States demanded on Monday that Syria allow aid into the “starving” city of Homs, as talks aimed at ending three years of civil war hit more trouble over the future of President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian government said women and children could leave the besieged city and that rebels should hand over the names of the men who would remain. A U.S. State Department spokesman said an evacuation was not an alternative to immediate aid.
“We firmly believe that the Syrian regime must approve the convoys to deliver badly needed humanitarian assistance into the Old City of Homs now,” said spokesman Edgar Vasquez. “The situation is desperate and the people are starving.”
He said the people of Homs must not be forced to leave their homes and split up their families before receiving aid.
After long months of fighting, much of Syria’s third biggest city has been reduced to rubble and people inside are under siege, cut off from supplies.
The city’s fate has turned into a test of whether the first peace talks attended by both sides in the three-year war can achieve practical measures on the ground, while a broader political settlement seems as remote as ever.
U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said he hoped the talks in Geneva would cover the central issue that divides the two sides – Syria’s political future and that of Assad – but both sides immediately adopted entrenched positions.
Syria’s government delegation presented a document for negotiation which did not mention a transition of power, Syrian television said.
The government’s “declaration of basic principles” said Syrians would choose a political system without “imposed formulas” from abroad, an apparent reference to Western and regional demands that Assad step down.
The opposition, which wants Assad to quit as part of arrangements for a transitional government, immediately rejected the proposal.
Homs, occupying a strategic location in the centre of the country, has been a key battleground. Assad’s forces retook many of the surrounding areas last year, leaving rebels under siege in the city centre, along with thousands of civilians.
Children play in the rubble that litters the streets. The city’s buildings are smashed and its mosques are holed by shell fire. A photo recently posted on Facebook shows a frail boy in Homs holding a poster that reads: “Breaking the siege is a non-negotiable demand.”
Western diplomats said the Syrian government should move quickly to allow aid in or face a possible U.N. Security Council resolution, with Russia and China being urged to reverse their opposition to such a move.
“The ball is still in the regime’s court. We understand that a report has gone back to Damascus seeking instructions,” one diplomat said.
Brahimi acknowledged the slow start to proceedings which began with a formal international conference on Wednesday. He said opposition delegates, who have asked for the release of nearly 50,000 detainees, had agreed to a government request to try to provide a list of those held by armed rebel groups – though many of these groups, fighting among themselves, do not recognise the negotiators’ authority.
