Evacuations In Syria As Pressure Mounts - Sky News

Shelling has been intense in the Babr Amr district of Homs

6:45am UK, Saturday February 25, 2012

The Red Cross has begun a second day of evacuating Syrians from the besieged city of Homs as world leaders urged an end to the violence.

Homs has been under constant bombardment by government forces for three weeks and hundreds of civilians, including children, are reported to have been killed.

The Red Cross is hoping to evacuate more people from Homs after Syrian authorities allowed them into the city this morning.

Yesterday, aid workers were allowed to enter the Babr Amr district for the first time to help those in need of medical assistance.

They managed to safely move seven women and children to a hospital in another part of the city, Red Cross chief spokeswoman Carla Haddad said.

A further 20 uninjured women and children were later evacuated and taken to "a safe area", Ms Haddad said. Foreign journalists trapped in the area were not among them.

Ms Haddad said: "It's a first step forward. The priority now is evacuating the seriously wounded or sick."

:: Who's who in the Assad regime?

Meanwhile, Western and Arab powers meeting in Tunis yesterday mounted the biggest diplomatic push in weeks to end President Bashar al Assad's 11-month-old crackdown on the opposition, but failed to agree on any concrete action against the regime.

At an international conference of the 'Friends of Syria' group of nations, up to 70 delegates gathered to try to find a way to end the bloodshed in Syria.

The world leaders called on President Assad to stop the killing of civilians and allow emergency aid into the country.

But the international efforts to resolve the crisis were criticised by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, who want Arab peacekeepers to enter Syria in order to enforce a ceasefire.

Western powers, including Britain and the US, favour a diplomatic approach to put more pressure on the Assad regime, including more economic sanctions.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed Russia and China as "despicable" for opposing UN action on Syria.

The two nations were not in attendance at the Friends of Syria meeting in Tunisia, and earlier this month both voted against a UN resolution condemning the violence.

Speaking after the conference, Mrs Clinton said: "It's quite distressing to see two permanent members of the Security Council using their veto while people are being murdered - women, children, brave young men - houses are being destroyed.

"It is just despicable and I ask whose side are they on? They are clearly not on the side of the Syrian people."

While Moscow has backed calls for a ceasefire, it has criticised other Western countries for being "one-sided" in its approach.

However, there does appear to be evidence of disagreement over what exactly should be done to stop the killing of Syria's civilians.

:: World's Hands Tied As Syria Horror Worsens

Qatar and Saudi Arabia used the Tunis conference to called for an Arab force to impose peace.

Later in the day the Saudi delegation quit the talks over what they called a lack of action, while the Saudi foreign minister even suggested that arming Syria's opposition fighters was an "excellent idea".

Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was important for Russia and China to no longer oppose the international community - and even suggested Beijing was reviewing its stance.

"I haven't seen that shift in Russia yet," he said. "I think the Chinese government is constantly assessing the position.

"So I hope... immediately they will change their position, but if not that, then they will steadily do so over time."

Mr Hague also said Britain would recognise the Syrian opposition as a "legitimate representative" of the people, and called the government "a criminal regime".

It is believed more than 7,000 people have now died in the uprisings against President Assad.

The draft conclusion of the meeting demanded that the Syrian authorities facilitate the delivery of emergency aid to areas under siege - including Homs, Deraa and Zabadani.

But the Syrian regime has refused to comply with such calls so far.

Hosting the summit, Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki told Sky News the world can no longer stand by and "watch the massacre" in Syria.

But the Tunisian leader ruled out a military solution, warning that foreign military intervention or arming the opposition could only lead to an escalation of violence.

:: Read more on our dedicated Syria topic page