Scores of trapped civilians awaited evacuation Friday from areas of Homs as a part of a deal struck between the Syrian government and the United Nations.

Scores of trapped civilians awaited evacuation Friday from areas of Homs as a part of a deal struck between the Syrian government and the United Nations.

The first consignment of food and medicine will reach civilians, Homs governor Talal Barazi said.

The relief supplies had been held up in a UN warehouse in a government-held area of Homs just kilometers (miles) away from Old City while the negotiations for relief access dragged on.

Barazi told AFP that a joint team from the provincial government, the United Nations and the Red Crescent was already in the Old City to oversee the evacuation but that it was running late because of logistical hitches.

"According to our advice from the UN, the number of people expected to leave today (Friday) is nearly 200," Barazi said.

"It will take us another two hours or more before the first civilians begin coming out," he said.

"Tomorrow (Saturday), the first consignment of food and other relief supplies will reach those in need in the Old City."

The evacuation of civilians was on the agenda of long-awaited peace talks between the government and the foreign-backed opposition in Switzerland last month, but the talks broke up without a hoped for agreement on access for relief supplies.

It was left to UN representatives in Damascus to thrash out the deal with Syrian officials.