Rocket Fire Delays Relief to Besieged Syrian City
CAIRO — The U.N. and various aid agencies are still attempting to deliver aid to the besieged city center of Homs, once Syria's third largest city and now a battleground of sectarian conflict. Sniper fire Saturday morning stalled the aid operation, but despite mutual recriminations, both the government and the rebels promised a three-day cease-fire will continue.
A convoy of U.N. and Syrian Red Crescent aid trucks awaited the signal Saturday afternoon to deliver their precious cargo of food and water into the besieged central district of the city. The operation, which had been scheduled to begin earlier, was halted after rocket fire hit a police building.
A U.N. spokesman traveling with the aid convoy told journalists the operation was momentarily halted due to violence.
He says someone broke the cease-fire, but he cannot determine which side is responsible. He says heavy gunfire was heard inside the city.
A pro-Syrian Lebanese news channel claimed the aid operation was stopped “after Islamic militants violated a truce and fired on security forces.” Homs Governor Talal al-Barazi told the official Syrian news agency SANA that rebel “mortar shells hit a police building in New Clock Square.” He insisted, however, that the operation will continue.
Barazi also vowed that civilians evacuated from the city on Friday will be allowed to return to their homes and neighborhoods soon and safely.
A rebel spokesman inside Homs told Sky News Arabia it was government forces that broke the truce and accused them of trying to disrupt the U.N.-brokered relief plan. In an amateur video, an old man inside the city dismissed the effort, saying the government was planning to deliver “herbs and grass to us.”
The top Sunni Muslim religious official in Homs, Sheikh Issam al-Masri, told state TV that the aid operation must take place and he urged rebels to lay down their arms.
The pro-government official says the operation to evacuate civilians must take place as agreed upon by the parties.
Syrian state TV broadcast what it said was a pro-government rally in the Damascus suburb of Nahr al-Aisheh, but intermittent chanting against the government could be heard in the broadcast. State TV appeared to cut the sound after young men chanted, “Down with the government.”
In Cairo Saturday, Syrian opposition leaders met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy. They are seeking a way to include opposition figures from inside Syria in their delegation to the next round of Geneva peace talks.
Opposition leader Ahmed Jarba told journalists the Damascus government is twisting the facts and creating confusion:
He says that the official Syrian delegation is being dishonest and playing games over its bargaining position from one session to the next. He asks why the government is not allowing Vice President Farouq al-Sharah - a Sunni - to join the government delegation.
Opposition figure Haitham al-Maleh also denounced the Assad government's argument that the Syrian people must decide the fate of their country in elections this coming summer:
He says it would be impossible to hold elections in a country which is 80 percent destroyed.
A convoy of U.N. and Syrian Red Crescent aid trucks awaited the signal Saturday afternoon to deliver their precious cargo of food and water into the besieged central district of the city. The operation, which had been scheduled to begin earlier, was halted after rocket fire hit a police building.
A U.N. spokesman traveling with the aid convoy told journalists the operation was momentarily halted due to violence.
He says someone broke the cease-fire, but he cannot determine which side is responsible. He says heavy gunfire was heard inside the city.
A pro-Syrian Lebanese news channel claimed the aid operation was stopped “after Islamic militants violated a truce and fired on security forces.” Homs Governor Talal al-Barazi told the official Syrian news agency SANA that rebel “mortar shells hit a police building in New Clock Square.” He insisted, however, that the operation will continue.
Barazi also vowed that civilians evacuated from the city on Friday will be allowed to return to their homes and neighborhoods soon and safely.
A rebel spokesman inside Homs told Sky News Arabia it was government forces that broke the truce and accused them of trying to disrupt the U.N.-brokered relief plan. In an amateur video, an old man inside the city dismissed the effort, saying the government was planning to deliver “herbs and grass to us.”
The top Sunni Muslim religious official in Homs, Sheikh Issam al-Masri, told state TV that the aid operation must take place and he urged rebels to lay down their arms.
The pro-government official says the operation to evacuate civilians must take place as agreed upon by the parties.
Syrian state TV broadcast what it said was a pro-government rally in the Damascus suburb of Nahr al-Aisheh, but intermittent chanting against the government could be heard in the broadcast. State TV appeared to cut the sound after young men chanted, “Down with the government.”
In Cairo Saturday, Syrian opposition leaders met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy. They are seeking a way to include opposition figures from inside Syria in their delegation to the next round of Geneva peace talks.
Opposition leader Ahmed Jarba told journalists the Damascus government is twisting the facts and creating confusion:
He says that the official Syrian delegation is being dishonest and playing games over its bargaining position from one session to the next. He asks why the government is not allowing Vice President Farouq al-Sharah - a Sunni - to join the government delegation.
Opposition figure Haitham al-Maleh also denounced the Assad government's argument that the Syrian people must decide the fate of their country in elections this coming summer:
He says it would be impossible to hold elections in a country which is 80 percent destroyed.
fuente: La Voz de América, http://www.voanews.com/content/un-set-to-deliver-aid-to-syrias-besieged-homs/1847215.html
Comentarios