Red Cross begins Homs evacuation

The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has been able to evacuate 27 people, including women, children and the wounded, from a neighbourhood of the besieged city of Homs that has endured weeks of shelling by government forces. Ambulances from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the Red Cross drove into the suburb of Bab Amr, an opposition stronghold which has been under heavy attack, after negotiations earlier on Friday. The news came as a major conference was held in Tunisia pushing for aid access. Hicham Hassan from the Red Cross told Al Jazeera: "The convoy did arrive in Bab Amr, earlier this afternoon (Friday), so far they have eavcuated seven injured persons, and 20 women and children." But Hassan said the situation in the area was getting worse by the hour, and said more help was needed to help those who are injured in Homs. "This for us remains the first step, we want to evacuate all persons who are injured, as long as it takes," said Hassan. Foreign journalists Two injured foreign journalists, who had appealed to be rescued in a video posted online, were not among those who were moved. French reporter Edith Bouvier and British photographer Paul Conroy suffered leg wounds in the same attack in which two other journalists, US reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, were killed. Bouvier needs surgery for a broken leg and and is said to be in a potentially life-threatening condition, while Conroy has less severe leg injuries. A spokesperson for the Red Cross told the AFP news agency that negotiations in their case were under way. "Negotiations continue with the Syrian authorities and the opposition in an attempt to evacuate all persons, without exception, who are in need of urgent help," said Saleh Dabbakeh. The evacuation was the first time rescuers had entered the Bab Amr in 21 straight days of deadly bombardment. The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) activist network reported the deaths of at least 50 of people on Friday as footage of street protests emerged from Homs, Qamishili, Aleppo, Idlib, Deraa and the suburbs of Damascus. The LCC said most of the deaths occurred in the central city of Hama. From Al-jazeera