The International Committee of the Red Cross says aid workers in Syria have reached two Homs neighborhoods near Baba Amr, a rebellious district overrun by government forces last week after a near-month long assault.
ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told VOA that a Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy arrived on Monday in the Homs neighborhoods of al-Tawzii and al-Inshaat, which is adjacent to Baba Amr. He said the 4-truck convoy was carrying food, blankets and mattresses for thousands of civilians, including people who fled the government bombardment of Baba Amr.
Aid workers have been trying to enter Baba Amr itself since Friday after receiving Syrian government approval to do so, but troops have blocked access to the district, citing security problems. Hassan says the ICRC is negotiating with Syrian authorities at the local and national level to remove obstacles to entering Baba Amr.
U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch estimates the government assault on Baba Amr killed about 700 people. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been waging a deadly crackdown on a year-long uprising against his autocratic rule.
Rights groups say the humanitarian situation in Baba Amr is dire, with residents struggling to find food, water and medical supplies in freezing temperatures.
U.N. humanitarian affairs chief Valerie Amos says Syria has granted her permission to visit Damascus from Wednesday to Friday to discuss the crisis.
In a statement, she said she will urge “all parties” to give aid workers “unhindered access” in delivering supplies to people affected by the violence and evacuating the wounded.
Amos spokeswoman Amanda Pitt told the French news agency it is not clear if the U.N. official will be permitted to travel outside Damascus. Amos has criticized Syria for not allowing her to visit the country sooner.
In another diplomatic move, U.N.-Arab League special envoy for Syria Kofi Annan is expected to travel to the country on Saturday on his first visit since being appointed to the post last month. Annan's office says he will seek an “urgent end to all violence and human rights violations” and promote a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.
Palestinian diplomat Nasser al-Kidwa will accompany Annan in the role of deputy international envoy for Syria.
Meanwhile, China says it is sending its own envoy to Syria this week to work on a political solution to the unrest. The Chinese foreign ministry says former Chinese ambassador to Syria Li Huaxin will promote Beijing's proposal for the Syrian government and the opposition to accept an immediate cease-fire and begin a dialogue.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he will meet his Arab League counterparts in Cairo on Saturday to discuss the Syrian crisis.
Syria's main opposition groups have rejected dialogue with Mr. Assad and said his departure is the only way to end the revolt.
The United Nations estimates that violence linked to the uprising has killed at least 7,500 people since it began last March. Syria blames the unrest on “armed terrorist groups” backed by foreign conspirators.
A British security consultant who says he spent more than a week in Syria last month told VOA the humanitarian situation was “really, really desperate in terms of access to food and just some of the basics.”
Pioneer Consulting Group chief executive Tim Crockett, a former British Royal Marine, said local people were trying to live normal lives in communities devastated by the government crackdown. He said there was a sense of “resignation” among Syrians that “no one was coming to their aid.”
Crockett says he entered Syria with a CNN television crew via a border crossing with Lebanon.
