Deal Reached to Ease Siege of Homs

Feb. 6, 2014 3:17 p.m. ET

A man forages for food on Feb. 1 in the central Syrian city of Homs, where regime forces have been besieging a rebel-held enclave for 18 months. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The Syrian regime reached a deal with the United Nations permitting evacuations of civilians from the besieged center of Homs followed by food deliveries to those who remain inside the rebel-held enclave.
The U.N. and Syrian allies Russia and Iran had been pressing the regime to make the concession as a show of good faith ahead of the next round of peace talks in Geneva. To secure the deal, U.N. envoys went to Tehran this week and met with Iranian and Syrian officials there.
Thousands of people in the old quarter of Homs have been under siege by government forces for nearly 18 months with no access to basics such as food and medicine.
The deal—confirmed by the regime, rebels in Homs and the U.N.—calls for the evacuation on Friday of any women, children or elderly who want to come out. Men can leave as long as they aren’t wanted by the regime or are ready to renounce any affiliation to rebels in writing, according to officials in Homs and the rebels.
On Saturday, the government will allow a food delivery to those who remain inside, including rebels.
However, given the volatility of Syria, there is a risk the deal could fall apart.
The U.N. welcomed the tentative deal. A draft resolution was submitted to the five permanent members of the Security Council on Thursday, demanding all parties allow humanitarian access to besieged areas. But Russia, which has veto power in the council, said it wouldn’t consider such a resolution and prefers pragmatic negotiations with the government and opposition to get aid in.
The announcement of the agreement coincided with a brazen and large-scale attack Thursday by Islamist rebels on a regime-controlled prison in the northern city of Aleppo. The prison has more than 3,000 inmates, including some detained for opposition to President Bashar al-Assad. State media said pro-government forces foiled the attack. But opposition activists disputed the claim and said rebels, including some from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, were inside the compound and battles were still raging.
Both developments are expected to have an impact on the continuation of U.N.-mediated peace talks in Geneva between the Assad regime and representatives of the opposition.
The first round of talks, which aim to reach a political solution to the nearly three-year war in Syria, ended on Jan. 31 with no tangible results.
Most deliberations focused on confidence-building measures such as allowing humanitarian assistance to besieged areas, including the central city of Homs, and prisoner exchanges.
The regime maintains the talks should focus on combating terror while the opposition and its Western backers say they must pave the way for a transitional government without Mr. Assad—a proposition rejected by the government. A second round of talks has been tentatively set for Monday, but the regime has yet to confirm its attendance. Officials in Damascus said they await Mr. Assad’s instructions.
If the Homs deal goes through, it would give a boost to talks. But the loss of Aleppo prison to rebels could complicate diplomacy, in part because the Islamist fighters who led the assault reject negotiations.
Some of those fighting alongside Nusra Front at the prison are part of an increasingly powerful coalition of Islamist rebels known as the Islamic Front.
But members of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, the group involved in the Geneva talks, mostly live in exile and have little sway over these fighters.
“Continuing with the Geneva talks is an act of treason,” said a member of Ahrar al-Sham, a faction within the Islamic Front. “Liberating the prison is a message from rebels that we expect nothing from Geneva.”
The prison attack began Thursday when a suicide bomber blew up an explosives-laden truck at the gates, opening a path for fighters to break in, according to opposition activists.
The prison has turned into a de facto regime military base since the start of the conflict and has been besieged by rebels for more than a year.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group tracking the conflict through activists inside Syria, said dozens from both sides have died in fighting in and around the prison while hundreds of inmates have been freed. As battles were going on, the regime started aerial bombardment and artillery shelling to try to regain control.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council issued a statement noting its “growing concern about the slow pace of the removal from Syria” of its chemical weapons and called for an expedited process.
Sigrid Kaag, who heads a joint mission of the U.N and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, briefed the council and told reporters afterward the June 30 deadline for the removal of the chemical stockpile can still be met. She played down the delays, saying she didn’t believe the Syrians were deliberately stalling.
But Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called for the “Assad government to stop its foot dragging.” She said the delays had “heightened risks that these weapons will be used by regime elements or fall into the hands of terrorists.”
The Syrian government has denied it is stalling, blaming the delays on the security complications in a war zone.
—Mohammad Nour Alakraa contributed to this article.

Continue reading here: Deal Reached to Ease Siege of Homs