Aid deliveries into the besieged Syrian city of Homs resumed yesterday after a brief suspension on Tuesday.

But the removal of hundreds trapped in the area by bitter fighting was slower to recommence, due in part to difficulties in reaching them through the labyrinthine backstreets of the city.

And there was still no word on the fate of hundreds of men detained for questioning by the government after they were evacuated from the city.

Homs governor Talal Barazi said on Tuesday that 1,100 men of fighting age had been released after leaving the city.

What he did not mention was that a further 190 men has been on the convoys leaving Homs but were being detained by government troops yesterday.

More than 1,000 men, women and children have been evacuated from rebel-held parts of Homs since Friday, but many more remain.

Mr Barazi said that food aid was able to enter and “the vehicles that are taking in the aid will bring out a number of civilians, including 20 Christians from the Bustan al-Diwan neighbourhood.”

Meanwhile, peace talks in Geneva moved along slowly, with UN negotiator Lakhdar Brahimi observing that the process had proved as “laborious” as the first round last month.

With the talks at a standstill, Russia proposed a conference to try to break the deadlock.

A scheduled meeting between Mr Brahimi, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov and US Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman was advanced by one day to this afternoon.

But the rebels still insist progress must be made on establishing a “transitional” government, while the government insists with equal tenacity that there will be no transition and that the first priority must be an end to fighting.

In Damascus on Tuesday, National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar said he expected that the talks “will end in failure.”

There were few in Geneva yesterday who would disagree.