There are fears many civilians may still be trapped
in a besieged suburb of the Syrian capital
Damascus, despite thousands being allowed to
leave.
The BBC's Lyse Doucet, who witnessed the exodus, says
the government believes only rebel fighters remain in
the suburb of Moadamiya.
But she says there are unconfirmed reports thousands
more civilians are too frightened to leave.
At least three Damascus suburbs have been besieged by
the army for months.
'Armed groups'
The civilians who left were allowed out through an
evacuation negotiated between the government and
opposition fighters who control the area.
Hundreds of women and children spent last night in a
government-run shelter.
Officials with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent told our
correspondent that families could stay for as long as
one month.
Some will join relatives elsewhere, others have no other
place to go.
The government says all civilians have now left the
besieged area, with only what it calls "terrorists" staying
behind.
Kinda al-Shamamat, the Syrian minister for social
affairs, said whoever stayed behind was the enemy.
She said: "Inside al-Moadamiya there is armed groups.
They are terrorists. Now we take the civilians to safe
places. And then those people are not our
responsibility, they are terrorists."
But our correspondent says that one activist the BBC
reached by Skype said thousands of civilians were still
trapped inside, too frightened to leave.
He said that, despite assurances of safe passage, many
men who left were now in detention.
Our correspondent says she is unable to verify his
claims, but what is clear is the siege is not over.
Supplies in Moadamiya had been running desperately
short, and residents had pleaded to be saved from
starvation.
The Syrian army had previously said that rebel-held
areas of Damascus such as Moadamiya could surrender
or starve.
At least two other Damascus suburbs - Yarmouk and
Eastern Ghouta - have also been besieged by
government forces for several months.
The situation had become so desperate that, earlier this
month, Muslim clerics issued a religious ruling allowing
people to eat cats, dogs and donkeys just to survive.
Those animals are usually considered unfit for human
consumption in Islam.
For months, the UN and other aid agencies have been
calling for urgent help, fearing the worst for the people
of Moadamiya.
"We didn't see a piece of bread for nine months," one
woman told the BBC. "We were eating leaves and
grass."
The people of Moadamiya were running short of food
and water
Moadamiya has been under siege and heavy
bombardment since March - with no one able to get in
or out
Some were too ill to walk, and had to be assisted by
Red Crescent workers
Most of those trapped were women and children
The men were taken to a separate area, to be searched
by the military
The army wants to check if any of these men were
fighting on the rebels' side
Meanwhile, Syria's Deputy Prime Minister, Qadri Jamil,
was dismissed on Tuesday for leaving the country and
acting without government permission, state media
said.
Mr Jamil met US officials in Geneva over the weekend
to discuss peace negotiations, according to UN and
Middle East officials.
But the state news agency Sana said Mr Jamil had been
dismissed by President Bashar al-Assad "because he left
his centre of work without prior permission and did
not follow up on his duties".
"Additionally, he undertook activities outside the nation
without co-ordinating with the government," Sana said.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the
fighting that has ravaged Syria for two-and-a-half
years, according to the UN.
A further two million people have fled Syria and some
4.5 million have been displaced internally.
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