11 February 2014 – United Nations-sponsored talks between the
Syrian Government and opposition that resumed yesterday are making scant
progress in ending the “nightmare” of the civil war, the top mediator
said today, calling for a quicker pace as officials voiced “deep
concern” at the detention by the authorities of men and boys leaving a
long besieged city.
“The beginning of this week is as laborious as it was in the first week
[of the talks]…I’m urging everybody to speed up,” UN-Arab League Joint
Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi told a news briefing
in Geneva of the latest diplomatic push to end a war which has killed
well over 100,000 people and driven nearly 9 million others from their
homes since the conflict erupted between President Bashar al-Assad and
various groups seeking his ouster nearly three years ago.
Women and children trapped in a besieged Syrian city will be
permitted to leave “immediately” under a deal that marked the first
tangible sign of progress in peace talks.
“What we have been
told by the [Syria] government side is that women and children in the
besieged area of the [Homs] old city are welcome to leave immediately,”
Agence France-Presse quoted U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi as telling a
news conference after talks with government and opposition delegations.
“Hopefully starting tomorrow, women and children will be able to leave the Old City in Homs,” Brahimi said.
The
subject of Homs -- where hundreds of families in the Old City are
living under siege with near-daily shelling and the barest of supplies
-- has been discussed at length since the two parties started
face-to-face talks on Saturday.
