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Thousands have been killed in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's rule
The first of the wounded and sick women and children trapped in the besieged Baba Amro district of Homs were evacuated today as international pressure mounted on the Syrian government to open up the country to humanitarian aid.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the Syrian Arab Red Crescent had brought out seven Syrian women and children and taken them to a hospital in Homs.
"It's a first step forward," ICRC chief spokeswoman Carla Haddad said in Geneva. "The priority now is evacuating the seriously wounded or sick."
News of the evacuations came as Arab and Western nations in Tunisia for the first "Friends of Syria" called for an immediate end to violence in the country and for new sanctions on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
In a final declaration, the group called for the regime to immediately end all violence to allow for humanitarian aid to be brought in.
"The Friends' Group called on the Syrian government immediately to cease all violence and to allow free and unimpeded access by the UN and humanitarian agencies," it said.
"It demanded that the Syrian regime immediately permit humanitarian agencies to deliver vital relief goods and services to civilians affected by the violence," it said.
It also vowed to "press the Syrian regime to stop all acts of violence" by enforcing current sanctions and introducing new ones, including with travel bans, asset freezes, ceasing oil purchases, reducing diplomatic ties and preventing the shipment of arms.
"Participants committed to take steps to apply and enforce restrictions and sanctions on the regime and its supporters as a clear message to the Syrian regime that it cannot attack civilians with impunity," it said.
The declaration did not fully endorse some Arab calls for peacekeepers to be deployed to Syria, with the declaration saying only that it "noted the Arab League's request to the United Nations Security Council to issue a resolution to form a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping force".
Meanwhile, the European Union will freeze the assets of Syria's central bank from next Monday as part of a package of tighter sanctions aimed at stopping a crackdown on the opposition.
"Starting from Monday, we will take new strong measures, notably a freezing of the assets of the Syrian central bank," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told a meeting of the "Friends of Syria".
Attending the conference and speaking on the RTE's News at One, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said that there had been contact with both Russia and China.
"We would hope that if it does go back to the Security Council, there would be a change of heart," he said.
Envoy Annan calls for peace in Syria
Kofi Annan has called on all parties to co-operate in ending violence and finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.
The former UN Secretary-General is the new United Nations-Arab League envoy on Syria.
He was appointed yesterday by his successor UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby as joint special envoy on the Syrian crisis.
"I am honoured to accept the role of Joint Special Envoy on the Syrian crisis, and am humbled by the trust and confidence that has been placed in me," Mr Annan said in a statement issued by the UN European headquarters in Geneva.
Activists say more than 7,600 people, mostly civilians, have died since Mr Assad's regime launched a crackdown to end a revolt that began with peaceful protests in March 2011.
