Jamal Al Wadi from the Syrian city of Daraa speaks as Syrian opposition members listen after they announced a Syrian National Council in their bid to present a united front against President Bashar al-Assad＇s regime, in Istanbul, Turkey, September 15, 2011.
Russia says the Syrian government has agreed to send a delegation to Moscow for proposed talks with Syrian opposition activists on resolving the Arab nation＇s months-long unrest.
The Russian foreign ministry said Monday it hopes Syrian opposition representatives also will agree to meet with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Russian capital. But, a senior member of the Syrian National Council told the Reuters news agency that the prominent opposition group has not received a formal invitation to Russia-based talks, and would decline such an offer in any case.
Russia has been urging the international community to promote dialogue to end the Syrian crisis rather than punitive action by the U.N. Security Council against Assad＇s government, a long-time Russian ally and buyer of Russian military supplies.
Western powers and Arab nations have been drafting a Security Council resolution that would support an Arab League plan for Assad to transfer power to a deputy and form a national unity government. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby is due to present the initiative to the Council on Tuesday.
In the latest violence, Syrian officials are blaming what they call a "terrorist group" for blowing up a gas pipeline early Monday, as activists report clashes elsewhere in the country.
Syria＇s state news agency said the blast occurred near Telkalakh, close to the Lebanese border. There have been several pipeline attacks since a popular uprising began last March, but it is not clear who is responsible for them. Some Syrian cities have faced energy shortages after the attacks.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement to the French news agency that clashes killed six members of the country＇s armed forces and four civilians in Hirak, in the southern province of Daraa.
A day earlier, the British-based activist group reported 72 people killed across the country, including 41 civilians, mostly in the Damascus suburbs and the central cities of Homs and Hama. The reports could not be independently confirmed because Syria bars foreign journalists from operating freely in the country.
Syrian troops in the capital fought off rebels Sunday, with security forces deployed across the city and around 2,000 troops backed by tanks and armored vehicles launching an assault to retake suburban areas.
The Damascus suburbs have seen large demonstrations demanding the removal of Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi＇ite Islam that has dominated the mostly Sunni Muslim country for the last five decades.
The Syrian government accuses armed terrorists of driving the revolt against Assad＇s 11-year autocratic rule and killing 2,000 security personnel. The United Nations estimated the death toll from the unrest at 5,400 earlier this month before it stopped updating the figure because of difficulties in obtaining information.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. |
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