Syria negotiator says Homs once again a 'theatre of death'

A view of a part of the Maloula village, northeast of Damascus, after soldiers loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad took control of it from rebel fighters April 14, 2014. REUTERS/khaled al-Hariri

BEIRUT (Reuters) - International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Thursday that a deal between trapped fighters and civilians in Homs city and the Syrian authorities had broken down, as government forces appeared close to retaking the besieged opposition area.

Homs, a religiously-mixed city, was the scene of early protests against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 and has become a symbol of the destructive nature of Syria's civil war, with many of its neighbourhoods levelled by army shells.