The US yesterday demanded 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 Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Damascus said women and children could leave the besieged city and that rebels should hand over the names of the men who would stay, but US Department of State spokesman Edgar Vasquez said an evacuation was not an alternative to immediate aid.
“The situation is desperate and the people are starving,” he said.
Vasquez said the people of Homs must not be forced to leave their homes and split their families before receiving aid.
UN and Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, who is mediating the talks, said he hoped yesterday’s talks in Geneva could tackle the central issue dividing the two sides: Syria’s political future and that of al-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, in an apparent reference to Western and regional demands that al-Assad step down.
The opposition, which wants al-Assad to quit as part of arrangements for a transitional government, immediately rejected the proposal.
“The declaration is outside the framework of Geneva, which centers on creating a transitional governing body. It fails to address the core issue,” said the opposition’s chief negotiator, Hadi al-Bahra.
Syrian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal Mekdad said he would meet UN mediators following the opposition’s rejection of the government’s proposal.
“We are here to discuss terrorism, not a transfer of power,” he said, using the Syrian government’s blanket term for the revolt that grew out of peaceful protests in 2011.
Homs, which sits a strategic location in the center of the country, has been a key battleground during the conflict. Al-Assad forces retook many of the surrounding areas last year, leaving rebels under siege in the city centre, along with thousands of civilians.
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