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.
A joint aid team of United Nations and Syrian Red Crescent workers safely left the Old City of Homs on Saturday after their convoy came under fire as they delivered humanitarian supplies, the Red Crescent said.
In a statement on Twitter, it said one truck driver suffered a minor injury and two damaged trucks had been left inside the Old City.
Four Red Cross employees injured as trucks enter besieged Syria areas ....
