BBC News with David Austin

The Red Cross says the first seven people have been

evacuated

from the Baba Amr district in the Syrian city of Homs to a local hospital. An official in Geneva, Carla Haddad, said a joint team of the International Red Cross and Syrian Red Crescent had begun rescuing those in urgent need of medical assistance.

"The ICRC teams and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers have been in Homs since the afternoon, negotiating with the Syrian authorities and the opposition to enter Baba Amr and evacuate the wounded and sick. What happened just a few moments ago is that the operation of evacuation started, and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent team entered with three

ambulances

inside Baba Amr and just evacuated seven women and children to, I mean, hospitals in Homs."

The city of Homs has been under heavy

bombardment

for several days. As well as countless Syrians, two seriously injured foreign journalists are among those needing urgent help.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the day-long international conference on Syria held in Tunis has agreed a series of measures that should help provide more

humanitarian aid

to the people of the country. Mrs Clinton said the 60 countries involved would increase the pressure on the Syrian government and prepare for a democratic transition.

"Today the friends of the Syrian people sent a strong and unified message that the Assad regime's escalating violence is an