First Achievement of Syrian Conference Falls Short of Goal of Humanitarian Relief

The Syrian peace conference in Geneva managed to produce a limited achievement in the form of an agreement to allow women and children trapped in the city of Homs to leave, but the deal falls short of the goal of allowing a convoy of humanitarian aid to reach the beleaguered area. Homs is symbolic as well as a case-in-point about the suffering, having fallen to rebel forces early-on in the fighting. In apparent punctuation of the point, troops loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad shelled Homs while the talks were under way in Geneva. The limited achievement by United Nations-appointed mediator Lakhdar Brahimi came before the conference begins to address the thorny issue of “transition.” Opposition totally rejects the idea that Assad could remain in office following an agreement; while Assad and his minions refuse to talk about “transition” because Assad has no plans of going anywhere. He recently said he “might seek reelection.” According to the UN, more than 130,000 people have been killed in the fighting since it began in 2011 and millions have been displaced from their homes. Violence has spilled over into neighboring countries where huge numbers of refuges are camped out waiting for the chance to return to their homes.