February 25, 2015

Rebel brigades controlling the holdout district of Al-Waer in Homs city allowed a regime-affiliated Syrian news channel into the besieged neighborhood in early February for the first time since the war began.

Al-Waer, home to an estimated 70,000-100,000 civilians, has been completely surrounded by the regime for more than a year and a half.

With the exception of Al-Waer, the regime has completely controlled the provincial capital since mid-2014, when a UN-brokered truce escorted out the last of the armed rebels from the city.

By allowing in the television channel, rebels wanted to show what residents have endured due to the blockade alongside frequent air and ground attacks, said Mohammed al-Homsi, the alias of a media activist in Al-Waer.

The rebels wanted to send the message that citizens in Al-Waerhead of the program 'Syria Debates' on state television enter the room, and the Al-Waer negotiator met her and heard her point of view around her previous experiences going into areas where truces are in place.

She asked about going into the neighborhood of Al-Waer for the first time, but the negotiator did not give her a promise. He then met with us at night, and got our opinions as media activists and soldiers and sheikhs and civilians. After a long, three-hour discussion that started with refusal, eventually an agreement was reached [that she would enter the neighborhood].

Al-Waer in Homs, earlier this month. Photo courtesy of SPC.

Q: Did the rebels stipulate that no security team would enter with the media?

Yes. All agreed that she should enter the neighborhood and