AID ALLOWED INTO REBEL-HELD AREA AS PEACE TALKS STALL

The Syrian government allowed aid into a rebel-held area near Damascus on Tuesday in what appeared to be a goodwill gesture after UN-mediated indirect peace talks got off to a rocky start in Geneva.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered 14 trucks of aid to the al-Tal suburb.

The talks are aimed at ending a war that has killed 250,000 people and displaced millions. The government has criticized the presence in the opposition delegation of individuals from two hard-line Islamic groups — the Army of Islam and Ahrar al-Sham — that it considers terrorist organizations.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for a halt to bombing.

“We are all extraordinarily sympathetic to the limits of propriety and common sense in the opposition sitting at the table while someone continues to bomb them,” Kerry said.