ICRC steps up aid as supplies reach Hama, western Syria

Geneva (ICRC) - ICRC spokesperson Carla Haddad Mardini confirms that today aid has reached Hama, a town in west central Syria badly affected by the fighting, "they have food for around 12,000 people, they have blankets, hygiene kits, the food should last for one month" says the ICRC.

The organization has not been able to return to Baba Amr in Homs since it evacuated 27 people on Friday. But negotiations with the Syrian authorities and the opposition continue to try to get agreement to a daily halt in the fighting to allow humanitarian assistance to be carried out in safety.

The wounded western journalists and the bodies of those who died have still not yet been evacuated. Carla Haddad Mardini confirmed that the journalists refused to leave Homs on Friday with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), when it was able to go into the district of Baba Amr to evacuate wounded civilians.