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Syrian Rebels Say Plan to Aid Blockaded City Is a Ploy Syrian Rebels Say Plan to Aid Blockaded City Is a Ploy
(about 1 hour later)
GENEVA — The Syrian opposition delegation condemned on Monday the government’s proposal to allow women and children out of blockaded areas in the city of Homs as a ploy to depopulate the area and arrest its opponents, saying the plan was not a substitute for allowing international aid convoys to enter, as United Nations mediators have proposed. GENEVA — The Syrian opposition delegation attending peace talks here condemned on Monday the government’s proposal to allow women and children to leave the blockaded city of Homs, calling the proposal a ploy to depopulate the area and arrest President Bashar al-Assad’s opponents.
The opposition’s international backers said that international law was clear on the matter: The Syrian government is obligated to allow unimpeded aid access without conditions. The opposition said the government’s proposal on Homs, a resilient epicenter of anti-Assad sentiment in the nearly 3-year-old Syria conflict, was not a substitute for allowing international aid convoys to enter Homs, as United Nations mediators have proposed. The opposition’s international backers said that international law required the Syrian government to allow unimpeded aid access without conditions.
“It is a simple thing they can and must do, but so far they have refused to allow humanitarian convoys into the Old City” of Homs, said Edgar Vasquez, a State Department spokesman here. “The armed fighters in the Old City have made clear that they will allow these convoys in. Thus, there should be no reason for delay. The regime must act now.”“It is a simple thing they can and must do, but so far they have refused to allow humanitarian convoys into the Old City” of Homs, said Edgar Vasquez, a State Department spokesman here. “The armed fighters in the Old City have made clear that they will allow these convoys in. Thus, there should be no reason for delay. The regime must act now.”
But Syrian officials called the focus on Homs a minor issue and a distraction and said that they were doing all they could to get aid to people throughout the country, an assertion strongly disputed by United Nations organizations such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. But Syrian officials called the focus on Homs a minor issue and said that they were doing everything possible to aid people throughout the country, an assertion strongly disputed by United Nations aid organizations.
That left the two sides no closer to an agreement on Homs, or anything else other then consenting to sit down in the same room on the third day of face-to-face talks. The tenuous international peace conference here has yet to produce concrete results, even on what were billed as early confidence-building measures to facilitate aid and the exchange of prisoners and kidnap victims. That left the two sides no closer to an agreement on Homs, or anything else other than consenting to sit in the same room on the third day of face-to-face talks. The tenuous international peace conference here has yet to produce concrete results, even on what were billed as early confidence-building measures to facilitate aid and the exchange of prisoners and kidnap victims.
That puts at risk the fragile gains the exile opposition coalition says it is making at the conference. Its officials say that the mere fact of sitting down with the government on an international stage has increased their credibility with Syrians inside the country, who have long criticized it as being disconnected from fighters and civilians on the ground and unable to deliver any help. The back-and-forth over Homs puts at risk the fragile gains the exile opposition coalition says it is making at the conference. Its officials say that the mere fact of sitting down with the government on an international stage has increased their credibility with Syrians inside the country, who have long criticized it as disconnected from fighters and civilians on the ground and unable to deliver any help.
At the same time, many government opponents inside Syria say the opposite: that the talks are a distraction that legitimizes the government and that neither side will be able to deliver on any agreements they produce. Western diplomats acknowledge that the opposition coalition does not control many of the fighting forces on the ground, and that the government delegates ultimately lack the decision-making power that rests in the hands of President Bashar al-Assad, security forces, and pro-government militia groups. At the same time, many government opponents inside Syria say the talks are a distraction that further legitimizes the government and that neither side will deliver on any agreements. Western diplomats acknowledge that the opposition coalition lacks control over fighting forces on the ground, and that the government delegates have no decision-making power, which ultimately rests with Mr. Assad.
Opposition delegates and their Western backers here said that under international law, civilians had a right to stay in their homes and to receive food and medical aid where they are. They said they had received guarantees from all the armed opposition groups in Homs that they would not fire on aid convoys. Opposition delegates and their Western backers here said that under international law, civilians had a right to stay in their homes and to receive food and medical aid. They said they had received guarantees from all the armed opposition groups in Homs that they would not fire on aid convoys.
“What the regime has proposed — an evacuation of women and children from the Old City — is not sufficient,” Mr. Vasquez said in a statement. “Civilians must be allowed to come and go freely, and the people of Homs must not be forced to leave their homes and split up their families before receiving much needed food and other aid.”“What the regime has proposed — an evacuation of women and children from the Old City — is not sufficient,” Mr. Vasquez said in a statement. “Civilians must be allowed to come and go freely, and the people of Homs must not be forced to leave their homes and split up their families before receiving much needed food and other aid.”
He said that the government had long been carrying out a “kneel or starve” campaign, a reference to slogans scrawled on concrete barriers at government checkpoints sealing off areas in the Damascus suburbs where malnutrition has taken a growing number of lives. “For example, in Moadhamiya, there was a limited evacuation but still no food aid or other humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Vasquez said. “That cannot happen in Homs.” He said that the government had long been carrying out a “kneel or starve” campaign, a reference to slogans scrawled on concrete barriers at government checkpoints isolating areas in the Damascus suburbs where malnutrition has taken a growing number of lives. “For example, in Moadhamiya, there was a limited evacuation but still no food aid or other humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Vasquez said. “That cannot happen in Homs.”
He said the ball was in the government’s court.
Jon Wilks, a British diplomat involved in the talks, said in a Twitter message: “Let’s keep it simple on Homs. Regime should let the humanitarian convoy in. Then the population should decide to stay or leave.”Jon Wilks, a British diplomat involved in the talks, said in a Twitter message: “Let’s keep it simple on Homs. Regime should let the humanitarian convoy in. Then the population should decide to stay or leave.”
Ahmad al-Jarba, the opposition coalition president, said on Twitter that the government had often employed a strategy “of allowing women & children to leave, then massacring and imprisoning the men.”Ahmad al-Jarba, the opposition coalition president, said on Twitter that the government had often employed a strategy “of allowing women & children to leave, then massacring and imprisoning the men.”
The opposition and its Western backers are calling on Russia to increase pressure on the Syrian government. A Western diplomat here said that if the convoy to Homs is not allowed by the end of the week, opponents of Mr. Assad could return to the Security Council, where Russia and China, his backers, have vetoed or watered down efforts to require the government to allow aid access. The opposition and its Western backers are calling on Russia to increase pressure on the Syrian government. A Western diplomat here said that if the convoy to Homs is not allowed by the end of the week, opponents of Mr. Assad could return to the Security Council, where Russia and China, his backers, have vetoed or diluted efforts to require the government to allow aid access.
“We may have to take this back to the Security Council and say there is clear noncompliance with what we have all agreed,” he said. “Russia should do more with the regime, if the regime does not allow this convoy in.”“We may have to take this back to the Security Council and say there is clear noncompliance with what we have all agreed,” he said. “Russia should do more with the regime, if the regime does not allow this convoy in.”
He added, “This is the lowest-level test of whether the regime is going to do anything constructive in these negotiations.”He added, “This is the lowest-level test of whether the regime is going to do anything constructive in these negotiations.”
But it was unclear how a stronger statement would affect Syria. Authorization of military force is a nonstarter with Russia, and increased sanctions would hardly make an impact on an already devastated Syrian economy. It was impossible to ascertain how the Geneva diplomacy was resonating with the besieged residents of Homs, once Syria’s third-largest city. But some civilians there reached by phone said there were no underwayreparations under way for a convoy or evacuation, and that many residents mistrusted both the government and insurgents.
But the diplomat said the issue was more about whether Russia wanted the dispute over aid to become the focus of international diplomacy at a time when people are starving in blockaded areas. Samer, a civilian inside Homs, said preparationsnunderway preprations under way for a convoy or evacuaamong, and many doubts mong residents, including mistrust for both the government and the insurgents.
Russian diplomats have been closemouthed, but a member of the state-affiliated Russian press here said that the envoys were expected to allow the Syrian government to deliberate a bit longer, and then increase pressure if it did not agree. “We don’t know yet if the fighters inside will be taking care of the distribution, which means that civilians will get a small share,” said one resident, Samer, a civilian. He said he had tried to convince a woman there who was suspicious of Mr. Assad’s motives to accept the government’s offer to evacuate with her three children, but that she had refused.
Opposition delegates said the talks on Monday were to focus on what they consider the meat of the conference: the establishment of a transitional governing body for Syria with “full executive powers,” chosen “by mutual consent.” “What woman will accept to leave with her children and husband if she knows that detention and rape are awaiting her?,” he quoted her as saying.
Opposition delegates said the talks on Monday were meant to focus on what they considered the meat of the conference: the establishment of a transitional governing body for Syria with “full executive powers,” chosen “by mutual consent.”
But Bouthaina Shaaban, a government delegate and senior adviser to Mr. Assad, told reporters that the transition could not be discussed until violence ends in Syria, a statement at odds with declarations from Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, that the violence could only be ended through political negotiations.But Bouthaina Shaaban, a government delegate and senior adviser to Mr. Assad, told reporters that the transition could not be discussed until violence ends in Syria, a statement at odds with declarations from Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, that the violence could only be ended through political negotiations.
The United States resumed nonlethal assistance to unarmed civilian opposition groups as of late December, and has made a decision to resume nonlethal aid to elements of the armed opposition as well, an American official here said on Monday.
The nonlethal aid — including communications gear, vehicles, and medical supplies — had been suspended in early December after Islamist insurgents raided a warehouse where they were being held. Those supplies have now been returned to fighters affiliated with the Western-backed exile coalition, the official said, adding, “We have verified that appropriate mechanisms can be established to mitigate the risk of diversion.”
The aid already flowing to local councils and civilian groups is aimed to “provide essential services for the Syrian people and counter violent extremists,” he said, and includes ambulances, garbage trucks, large generators, food baskets, school supplies, office equipment and assistance to the police.