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UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos held talks in the Syrian capital Damascus and has visited the devastated city of Homs.
Valerie Amos held talks with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem
Six One News: UN humanitarian chief allowed to enter Baba Amr
Nine News: UN humanitarian chief visits Homs
United Nations’ humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has entered the battered Baba Amr rebel district of Homs in Syria along with a Syrian Red Crescent team.
“Madame Amos entered with the team of volunteers from the Syrian Red Crescent, which stayed 45 minutes in the district,” said a spokesman from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Members of the team reported that “most of Baba Amr’s residents have left the area, towards regions where” they could obtain aid from the ICRC, a spokeswoman for the organisation said.
A spokesperson for Ms Amos said the city had been “completely devastated” and the group heard gunfire during the visit.
Ms Amos had travelled to Homs after visiting Damascus where she held talks with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who pledged Syria’s cooperation with her mission to secure aid for battered protest cities.
Ms Amos flew in for a two-day visit after an international outcry over President Bashar al-Assad’s previous refusal to let her in, and she is to be followed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan on Saturday.
A seven-truck aid convoy has been waiting since Friday to enter Baba Amr, which fleeing residents have said is facing an acute humanitarian crisis in the face of a bloody crackdown on dissent by forces of the Syrian regime.
The authorities had said the relief agencies were being barred for their own safety due to the presence of bombs and landmines.
But Syrian anti-regime activists say the authorities are keeping the groups out to buy time to hide their “crimes”.
Meanwhile, a joint ICRC-Red Crescent team also managed to distribute food and other relief items such as bedding and medical aid, to families who have fled Baba Amr.
Over the past two days, aid has been provided to about 350 families, said the ICRC.
UN Security Council meets over Syria
The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Morocco, the only Arab member of the council, have met to discuss a new resolution on Syria drafted by the United States.
The United States, Britain, France, China and Russia are the five permanent members of the UNSC.
The draft resolution calls on the government of President Assad to withdraw its troops from cities that have been centres of resistance.
It also demands that opposition forces refrain from violence, but stops short of endorsing an Arab League plan calling for President Assad to step down.
It is unclear whether the draft resolution, which follows two earlier proposed condemnations of the Syrian government that Russia and China vetoed, has any chance of success in the 15-nation council.
“We have just begun today preliminary discussions about whether there is any possibility of reaching agreement,” US Ambassador Susan Rice said.
“These discussions are just beginning and will continue,” she said. “If and when, it seems there is a basis for a meaningful and viable text, we will propose one to the full security council.”
One diplomat said privately there would be “no swift vote” on the draft, if it came to a vote at all.
Another Western diplomat, who defended the US text, said such a resolution could signal to Mr Assad that his support from Moscow and Beijing is not unlimited: “We do think there is utility to having the Russians and Chinese sign up to something that indicates that they … take issue with Syrian behaviour.”
Indian Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri did not take part in the meeting but said the council should not take any steps until after it hears back from Ms Amos Mr Annan.
