UN restarts aid mission in Homs

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More than 1,000 civilians have been evacuated from Homs so far, as Lyse Doucet reports

More aid has been sent into the besieged rebel-held Old City of Homs by the UN after hours of talks aimed at saving a truce between warring parties.

UN vehicles towed trailers of food into the city, and aid agencies prepared buses to transport fleeing civilians.

More civilians are set to join the hundreds evacuated out of the Old City since the truce was agreed last Friday.

The current ceasefire deal is due to end late on Wednesday, but the regime has said it will allow an extension.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet, in Homs, says every precaution is being taken with the latest food delivery.

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An abandoned ballroom on the edge of Homs is being used to care for evacuees, Lyse Doucet says

Red Crescent vehicles were attacked on their way to the Old City at the weekend, and their workers were briefly trapped.

In other developments:

• Syrian government forces have stepped up an assault on the opposition-held town of Yabroud, near the Lebanese border, with at least 13 air strikes reported. Lebanese officials told the BBC dozens of families are streaming over the border in anticipation of a major assault
• Syrian government and opposition delegations are holding a third day of talks in Geneva, after the UN declared the talks "laborious" on Tuesday
• Russia has again rejected the idea of a UN Security Council resolution that would call on all sides to allow aid workers access across Syria
• A man thought to be the first Briton to have carried out a suicide bombing in Syria is named as Abdul Waheed Majid

Government troops have besieged Homs for 18 months.

The "humanitarian pause" in the Old City of Homs is a rare glimmer of light in a dark and devastating war. The UN says the mission has already helped a "significant" number of people to leave the besieged area and a "limited" amount of aid is getting through.

The UN's resident humanitarian co-ordinator, Yacoub El Hillo, told me they were "baby steps" that, he hoped, could lead to the "giant steps" that were needed.

But a rare truce also meant to build trust is exposing deep enmities. The longer the mission goes on, the more sensitive it becomes.

Some pro-government forces are vehemently opposed to an operation that is allowing fighters to escape an area that has been the focus of heavy fighting for nearly two years. And the opposition is angry that young men who leave are being taken in for questioning.

More than 100 have been released, but more than 200 are still being held. In Syria's brutal conflict, even humanitarian pauses cannot escape the cruel logic of war.

Evacuations over the weekend were facilitated by a three-day truce, which was then extended until Wednesday.

But the operation was suspended on Tuesday because of what UN and Syrian officials said were logistical reasons. More than 1,000 civilians are believed to remain.

Homs governor Talal Barazi said the temporary truce could be extended further if necessary.

The UN's local aid chief Yacoub El Hillo, who is overseeing the operation, told the BBC it was "crucial" that the evacuations continued.

Convoys came under fire at the weekend, and Mr Hillo described his visit to Homs as like a "day in hell".

UN agencies have also expressed concern over the fate of dozens of men who were taken in by Syrian security personnel after they fled Homs.

UN rights spokesman Rupert Colville said it was "essential that they do not come to any harm".

The detainees were being held at an abandoned school, the UN said.

Mr Barazi said 111 men had been questioned and released, while 190 others were still being held.

"I just want to say I hope that that the bigger percentage will all be released," he told the BBC.

"They are living in a shelter in very good conditions. They have all the services, health, medical services and they are all secure."

The Syrian authorities said the screening was necessary to weed out "terrorists".

In Geneva, Syrian government and opposition negotiators met face-to-face again on Wednesday.

But earlier UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said there had not been much progress.

He has brought forward a meeting with Russian and US officials by one day to Thursday in an apparent attempt to get them to apply pressure to the opposed Syrian sides.

The first round of talks ended last month with no firm agreements and both sides trading insults.

The opposition wants the government to commit in writing to the 2012 Geneva Communique, which called for the formation of a transitional administration with full executive authority.

President Bashar al-Assad's government has ruled out any transfer of power.

The civil conflict has claimed more than 100,000 lives since 2011 and has driven 9.5 million people from their homes.