Syrian opposition to attend peace conference

The main, western-backed Syrian opposition group has voted in favour of attending next week's peace conference aimed at ending the country's bloody civil war.
The Syrian National Coalition's media office said that of 73 voters today, 58 voted in favor of attending the conference.
The Coalition was under huge pressure from its Western and Arab sponsors to attend the peace talks, scheduled to open Wednesday in the Swiss city of Montreux.
Many Coalition members were hesitant to attend a conference that has little chance of success and will burn the last shred of credibility the group has with powerful rebels on the ground, who reject the talks.

The Syrian government has already said it will attend the talks.
Food supplies began entering a besieged rebel-held Palestinian refugee camp in Syria's capital today for the first time in months, an apparent goodwill gesture by the government ahead of a coming peace conference, a Palestinian official said.

The flow of food into the Yarmouk refugee camp came as the main Western-backed Syrian opposition group held a meeting Saturday in Istanbul to decide whether to attend the peace conference next week aimed at ending the country's bloody civil war.
The Syrian National Coalition is under huge pressure from its Western and Arab sponsors to attend the peace talks, scheduled to open Wednesday in the Swiss city of Montreux.

Many Coalition members are hesitant to attend a conference that has little chance of success and will burn the last shred of credibility the group has with powerful rebels on the ground, who reject the talks.
The Coalition could make the announcement regarding the peace conference later Saturday. The Syrian government has already said it will attend the talks.
In Damascus, Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said the first batch of supplies entered the Yarmouk camp today.
Yarmouk is one of the areas hardest hit by food shortages in Syria. Residents there say 46 people have died since October of starvation, illnesses exacerbated by hunger or because they couldn't obtain medical aid.

Raja said hundreds of boxes of food stuff entered the camp. He said much of the material was carried by members of PFLP-GC members and committees in the camp.
"The process is moving slowly since they are being carried on the shoulder to avoid sniper fire," Raja told The Associated Press in Damascus by telephone.