Syria peace talks take small step, offer hope to trapped civilians

[Sally]

Now at least something will be done to help some of the ordinary people in Syria caught up in this mess.

Syria peace talks take small step, offer hope to trapped civilians
By Patrick J. McDonnell
January 26, 2014, 2:30 p.m.

GENEVA — Hundreds of women, children and other trapped civilians could leave the rebel-held center of the Syrian city of Homs -- and aid convoys would be allowed access to the besieged district -- in what appears to be the first concrete accomplishment of peace talks here, the United Nations said Sunday.

“Hopefully, starting tomorrow, women and children will be able to leave the Old City of Homs,” Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. special envoy who is mediating the negotiations, told reporters here after a negotiating session with both sides.

Continue reading at:

Syria peace talks take small step, offer hope to trapped civilians - latimes.com

 

[aris2chat]

Most of the 500 women are not leaving because they fear a massacre of their husbands and sons by Assad

 

[aris2chat]

Syrian toddler Rani Halil rescued alive from rubble by Abu Aljud Mujhaeed

30 minutes ago January 28, 2014 11:57AM

Toddler rescued from rubble in Syria 1:23

http://content5.video.news.com.au/N...15_promo214881188_648x365_2432490283-hero.jpg

A toddler has been rescued from underneath rubble in Aleppo, Syria after recent conflict in the region.

You need to have the Adobe Flash Player to view this content.
Please click here to continue.

A SYRIAN toddler has escaped death after she was buried alive under a pile of rubble in the war-torn city of Aleppo.

A video of the incident shows the rescue of the young girl, believed to be 2-year-old Rani Halil, after an air strike blast in the rebel-held city on December 16 destroyed civilian homes.

Rescuers heard a child cry out from under the piles of dust, stones and large chunks of concrete and began digging with their hands.

They frantically dug until they found the toddler, who was initially motionless, but soon started crying as she was released.

In the video, which has almost 240,000 views on YouTube, her rescuers shout in happiness and cry out "Allah akbar" ("God is greater" in Arabic).

Rani's mother and sister were both killed in the blast, but her father is still alive, according to the man who claims he filmed the video, 21-year-old Abu Aljud Mujhaeed.

Rani was taken to the local hospital and is "OK now", Mr Mujhaeed told Vocativ. "She'll be out of the hospital tomorrow."

Mr Mujhaeed said some of the rescuers were relatives of the Halil family.

The horrific conflict in Syria began in 2011 following a series of demonstrations. It's believed over 100,000 people have died as a result and millions are displaced.

Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, has been one of the worst hit areas. Residential and civilian areas are regularly bombed and locals have to desperately dig out victims caught in the rubble.

"It happens quite often," said Mr Mujhaeed of the attacks. "We are all following the way of Allah. We don't [fear] death."