A new deal has been reached to complete the evacuation of rebel-held east Aleppo which has ground to a halt over pro-government demands that people also be moved from two villages besieged by rebels.
Syrian rebel official al-Farouk Abu Bakr on Saturday, said the deal comprised an evacuation from the two Shi'ite villages, the evacuation of the wounded from two towns besieged by pro-government forces near the Lebanese border, and the full evacuation of rebel-held east Aleppo.
A Syrian government official also said the stalled evacuation would resume, alongside some evacuations from the four besieged towns and villages.
"It was agreed to resume evacuations from east Aleppo in parallel with the evacuation of (medical) cases from Kefraya and al-Foua and some cases from Zabadani and Madaya," said the official who is part of the negotiating team.
The Shi'ite villages of al-Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province are besieged by insurgents. The towns of Madaya and Zabadani are blockaded by pro-government forces.
The operation to evacuate fighters and civilians from the last opposition-held area of Aleppo was suspended on Friday, its second day, after pro-government militias demanded wounded people also be brought out of al-Foua and Kefraya, and protesters blocked the road out of Aleppo.
There were recriminations on all sides with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon describing Aleppo as "a synonym for hell".
Rebel sources accused pro-government forces they identified as Shi'ite militias of detaining and opening fire on a convoy carrying evacuees from east Aleppo on Friday.
Abu Bakr told al-Hadath the previous agreement was breached by pro-government militias who detained "hundreds" of people trying to leave, leading to some deaths.
A Syrian military source denied this, but said a convoy trying to leave Aleppo was returned to the city.
"Now we are working on international guarantees to guarantee the safety of those who leave Aleppo so that such violations are not repeated," Abu Bakr said.
The chaos surrounding the evacuation reflects the complexity of Syria's civil war, with an array of groups and foreign interests involved.
Aleppo had been divided between government and rebel areas in the nearly six-year war but a lightning advance by the Syrian army and its allies that began in mid-November deprived the insurgents of most of their territory in a matter of weeks.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, said no buses or ambulances had yet entered al-Foua or Kefraya but the operation was expected to begin soon.
It said in the villages there are about 20,000 people, of whom roughly 4500 are pro-government fighters.
Iran, one of Syria's main allies, had demanded that the villages be included in any ceasefire deal, rebel and United Nations officials have said.
Though both Russia and Iran back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rebels have blamed Tehran and the Shi'ite groups it backs in Syria for obstructing Moscow's efforts to broker the evacuation of east Aleppo.
