Foreign ministers from more than 50 western and Arab countries are attending the first ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in Tunis on 24 February and will demand an immediate ceasefire to allow access by UN aid workers to Homs. As the forces of President Bashar al-Asad continue their siege of the city, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on 23 February that Syria’s opposition will arm itself and go on the offensive if diplomacy fails to resolve the crisis.