Syria parties discuss aid to Homs; prisoners on Sunday agenda
At peace talks in Geneva, delegators discuss dire conditions of city of Homs, express concern of humanitarian situation. UN mediator says talks, to resume Sunday, will touch on subject of securing freedom of prisoners
UN mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said Saturday that humanitarian aid to the city of Homs had been discussed in talks with Syria's warring sides and that prisoners would be on Sunday's agenda.
"This afternoon we started to speak about humanitarian affairs and we discussed at length the situation in Homs and the old city of Homs," Brahimi said after meeting with delegations from the Syrian regime and opposition on the second day of peace talks in Geneva.
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"We hope that ultimately some convoy of aid, goods, both food and non-food items and some medical supplies, will be allowed to go into the old city," Brahimi said, adding that he hoped this could happen as early as Sunday or Monday.
There is widespread concern about the humanitarian situation in the central city of Homs, where hundreds of families are living under siege with near-daily shelling and the barest of supplies.
"Tomorrow morning we will discuss the issue of prisoners, people that have been kidnapped, and see if something can be done to secure the freedom of those – not all – but at least some of the people," Brahimi said.
Saturday saw the two sides sit down in the same room for the first time, with talks from both delegations directed to Brahimi instead of two each other.
"We haven't achieved much but we are continuing," Brahimi said, adding that he considered Saturday a "good beginning".
"The situation is extremely complex," Brahimi said. "We are moving not in steps, but even half steps."
