Syrian opposition begins withdrawal from Homs

More than 100 Syrian opposition figures gathered in Saudi Arabia Wednesday, with the goal of presenting a unified front in war-torn Syria, a source from the opposition told dpa.

"The first session has already started in Riyadh," said Diaa al-Husseini, a member of the Syrian National Coalition.

Some 16 attendees also represent armed groups in Syria, including hardline Islamist factions the Army of Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, two of the strongest rebel forces.

The two groups, which in some areas fight alongside the Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate, the al-Nusra Front, have rarely come together with the more moderate political opposition.

The conference is scheduled to work on producing a unified vision for the future of Syria as well as to form one united committee to represent them in future talks.

The Riyadh conference follows talks on Syria by diplomats from 20 countries in October in Vienna in which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's closest ally, Iran, participated for the first time. The next such meeting is scheduled for January.

A major sticking point in Vienna was al-Assad's fate. In a sign that marks the growing role of outside powers in the conflict, key countries backing both al-Assad and the rebels took part in the meeting, but none of the warring parties were themselves invited.

Separately, Syrian rebel forces began evacuating a neighbourhood in the central city of Homs Wednesday, part of a deal brokered with Syrian regime forces, a monitor reported.

"Three buses loaded with some 150 mainly civilians, including women and Children, have left al Waer," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told dpa, referring to the neighbourhood.

"At the first stage of the deal, between 750-800 people will leave the neighbourhood," Abdel Rahman said.

Syria's regime and the rebels reached an agreement last week to evacuate opposition forces from the last area they hold in Homs city.

Some 3,200 fighters will depart in stages with their families to rebel-held areas.

In return, trucks loaded with medical and food supplies will enter al-Waer, which has been besieged by regime troops for almost two years.

The reported deal comes a week after rebels began to evacuate the besieged Damascus suburb of Qudsayya.

In May 2014, a similar evacuation was carried out under UN supervision in the Old City of Homs, after two years of government siege and shelling that devastated the Homs area.

By Weedah Hamzah