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| Syria talks: Civilians to be allowed out of Homs old city | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Syria will allow women and children to leave the besieged area of Homs "from now", the UN mediator at the Geneva peace talks has told reporters. | Syria will allow women and children to leave the besieged area of Homs "from now", the UN mediator at the Geneva peace talks has told reporters. |
| Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said women and children were free to leave. He said armed groups were preventing them from leaving. | |
| Mr Brahimi said that the opposition had agreed to give the government lists of detainees held by armed groups. | |
| He said it was "too early" to assess the prospects of a comprehensive deal. | |
| Mr Brahimi said he hoped a humanitarian convoy from the UN and the Red Cross would be able to go to Homs on Monday. | |
| Lists of names | |
| Mr Mekdad said he hoped arrangements could be made with local officials to allow the convoy access but that the aid must not fall into "the hands of terrorists", the term Syrian officials for all armed opposition. | |
| Lakhdar Brahimi said that the government would allow women and children to leave immediately but had asked for a list of adult male civilians who wanted to leave to ensure they were not fighters. | |
| The envoy said the opposition had pledged to gather names of detainees from groups it had "authority over or contact with" but admitted that this did not include all anti-government groups fighting in Syria. | The envoy said the opposition had pledged to gather names of detainees from groups it had "authority over or contact with" but admitted that this did not include all anti-government groups fighting in Syria. |
| The opposition in turn has been asking for the release of thousands of prisoners in government detention. | |
| Mr Brahimi said the talks in Geneva had taken the form of a joint session with the government and opposition in the morning before he met the sides separately in the afternoon. | Mr Brahimi said the talks in Geneva had taken the form of a joint session with the government and opposition in the morning before he met the sides separately in the afternoon. |
| He added that he expected this pattern to be repeated on Monday. | He added that he expected this pattern to be repeated on Monday. |
| Mr Brahimi said he had been encouraged by the atmosphere at the talks on Sunday, saying they had been characterised by "respect and exchange". | Mr Brahimi said he had been encouraged by the atmosphere at the talks on Sunday, saying they had been characterised by "respect and exchange". |
| No direct words had been exchanged between the delegations but the two sides were talking to each other through him, Mr Brahimi said. | |
| Fundamental divisions | |
| Syria's civil conflict has claimed well over 100,000 lives since it began in 2011. | |
| The violence has also driven 9.5 million people from their homes, creating a major humanitarian crisis within Syria and for its neighbours. | |
| The opposition and government are fundamentally divided over the aims of the conference. | |
| The government delegation has said the main issue of the talks is finding a solution to foreign-backed "terrorism". | |
| The opposition, however, had insisted that the regime commit in writing to the Geneva I communique, which called for a transition process. | |
| The communique urged Syria to form a transitional governing authority that "could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups". |