Help at last: Injured evacuated from besieged Homs

Ambulances from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent began evacuating injured women and children yesterday (Friday) from a besieged area in the city of Homs, where two wounded journalists from Britain and France have been trapped.

Syrian forces had sealed off the Baba Amr area, which has been under intense bombardment for 21 consecutive days. By agreement with the authorities, three ambulances from the Red Crescent were able to enter the district and remove seven wounded civilians, all of them women and children.

Paul Conroy, a British photographer working for The Sunday Times, and Edith Bouvier, a French correspondent for Le Figaro, were both wounded in Baba Amr on Wednesday when the district was shelled heavily. Marie Colvin of The Sunday Times and Remi Ochlik, a French photographer with the IP3 press agency, were killed during the same attack.

The surviving journalists, both of whom suffered leg injuries, have been given refuge and treatment in a makeshift clinic. On Thursday they released videos on YouTube pleading for help.

Miss Bouvier said she needed an "operation" that was beyond the ability of the personnel in the rudimentary clinic. The bodies of their dead colleagues had also not been recovered.

There was no confirmation last night that Mr Conroy and Ms Bouvier had left with the Red Crescent. All of the seven people taken out of Baba Amr were understood to have been Syrian citizens. The journalists might have been reluctant to leave with anyone other than the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is separate from the Syrian Red Crescent and viewed as more impartial.

They might also have been concerned about the destination of any evacuation. A government hospital in Homs was believed to have been the first port of call for those taken out of Baba Amr by the Red Crescent yesterday.

Highly sensitive negotiations were under way between the ICRC and the Damascus regime to secure the evacuation not only of the journalists but of all casualties requiring treatment.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 people live in Baba Amr, where conditions are steadily worsening. The wounded are often afraid to seek treatment at government hospitals - even when these facilities can be reached - because the Syrian authorities routinely screen patients and arrest any suspected of opposing President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Sean Maguire, a spokesman for the Red Cross in London, said the population of Baba Amr was in "grave humanitarian need and the situation is deteriorating by the hour". He added: "Those in need include the injured journalists, but are certainly not limited to them."

Yesterday's evacuation operation was, he said, being conducted "with the agreement of the authorities".

While the Syrian Red Crescent had been allowed into Baba Amr, it was unclear whether entry had also been granted to the ICRC, which has been excluded from the district for the past six months. There were suggestions that ICRC vehicles were stopped at a regime checkpoint, while those from the Red Crescent were allowed to proceed.

Eric Chevallier, the French Ambassador to Syria, returned to Damascus yesterday more than two weeks after being recalled to Paris "for consultations". He had planned to go personally to Homs to bring out Mr Conroy and Miss Bouvier and recover the two bodies, but the authorities denied him permission. Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, said the ICRC was negotiating with the governor of Homs "to make this [evacuation] happen as quickly as possible".

The delicate negotiations coincided with accusations that government forces had carried out one of the bloodiest attacks of the conflict. According to opposition activists, Mr Assad's soldiers raided the village of Halfiya in Hama province, lining 18 of its inhabitants against a wall and shooting them.

Five children were said to be among the dead, the youngest of whom was 10 months old, executed along with their parents. There was no independent confirmation of the claims, although activists posted video footage showing the corpses of the children and four adults being wrapped in blankets.

The attacks came a day after between seven and 13 members of another family were allegedly killed in a similar fashion in Kfartoun, also in Hama province. The family shared the same surname as Riad al-Asaad, the commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The two incidents suggest that government forces have adopted a new strategy of civilian reprisals, at least in Hama. While the motive for the attacks remains unclear, rebel forces have been known to hide in farming villages after attacking army checkpoints and convoys. Other opposition strongholds also came under attack yesterday.

In a further sign of how the Arab world was turning on Mr Assad, the leadership of the militant group Hamas in Gaza announced that it was supporting the opposition.

Hamas has long been seen as a key element in an anti-Western alliance led by Iran and Syria, and has had its headquarters in Damascus. It is now said to be looking for an alternative base.