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The UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, has had talks in Turkey amid rising tensions between Ankara and Damascus.
Lakhdar Brahimi met Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to hear Turkey’s perspective on the crisis.
Several days of cross-border firing followed the killing of five Turkish civilians by Syrian shelling last week.
Earlier this week, Turkey intercepted a Syria-bound plane amid reports it had Russian-made defence equipment aboard.
Syria has dismissed the claim as a lie, challenging Turkey to show any evidence.
In Syria itself, there were reports on Saturday that rebel fighters had shot down a Syrian military jet outside Aleppo.
Footage posted online showed the burning wreckage of what appeared to be an aircraft, but the claim has not been independently verified.
Lakhdar Brahimi met Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul on Saturday, as did German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
“It is important that no-one pours oil on the fire. We are counting on moderation and de-escalation,” the German minister said, according to news agency AFP.
Meanwhile Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul that the UN’s failure to act in Syria gave President Bashar al-Assad the green light to kill tens or hundreds of people every day.
Turkey may not be at war with Syria, but it is now increasingly involved in its neighbor’s conflict.
President Bashar al-Assad’s government accuses Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, of arming the rebels.
However, Syria has said it is ready to set up a joint committee to oversee security on the border.
Its foreign ministry said it had been discussing with diplomats from Russia, a key ally, the idea of a Syrian-Turkish security committee to avoid misunderstandings at the border, which would establish a “mechanism for surveillance of the border while respecting national sovereignty”.
Lakhdar Brahimi’s visit comes a day after he met senior Saudi officials in the city of Jeddah.
Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdel Aziz bin Abdullah was quoted as urging “an immediate halt to the bloodshed of the Syrian people”.
However, the envoy’s visit to the region carries no immediately obvious peace plan.
He adds that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has suggested Lakhdar Brahimi may head to Damascus next week if his meetings in the region go well.
Meanwhile state media in Iran, Bashar al-Assad’s key supporter in the region, say Lakhdar Brahimi is to travel to Tehran on Sunday for talks, ahead of a visit to Iraq on Monday.
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Lakhdar Brahimi, the new UN-Arab League envoy on Syria, has given a deeply pessimistic view of the task ahead of him, as he takes up his new post.
In a recent interview with BBC, the veteran Algerian diplomat described his mission as “nearly impossible”.
Lakhdar Brahimi was appointed after his predecessor, Kofi Annan, resigned, saying he no longer saw a way to fulfill his mission after his peace plan failed to achieve a meaningful ceasefire.
Fighting in Syria has been escalating.
In the latest – still unconfirmed – incident, opposition activists say a warplane killed as many as 18 people in a single strike in Aleppo province.
Activists say 20,000 people have died since the uprising against the Syrian government began last March.
On Sunday, the pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 5,000 people were killed in August alone.
The conflict has increasingly come to resemble a full-scale civil war, forcing an estimated one million Syrians from their homes.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the new UN-Arab League envoy on Syria, has given a deeply pessimistic view of the task ahead of him, as he takes up his new post
Last month, the United Nations wound up the observer mission that had been tasked with monitoring the ceasefire in Syria under the six-point peace plan negotiated by Mr Annan.
“I’m coming into this job with my eyes open, and no illusions,” said Lakhdar Brahimi.
“I know how difficult it is – how nearly impossible. I can’t say impossible – [it is] nearly impossible.”
With few people believing that Lakhdar Brahimi can do much, it seems he sees his job as keeping expectations low.
Lakhdar Brahimi is expected to visit Syria and meet President Bashar al-Assad on 8 September.
The spokesman for the Syrian foreign ministry, Jihad Makdissi, said Syria would “give Brahimi all that he needs to make his mission a success for the interest of the country”.
A former Algerian foreign minister, Lakhdar Brahimi has also held a series of key UN appointments, including that of UN envoy to Afghanistan and mediator of the peace deal that ended the Lebanese civil war.
Analysts say he has a formidable reputation at the UN and his appointment has been widely welcomed.
But Lakhdar Brahimi admitted to some trepidation about his new mission, saying he could understand those frustrated with the lack of international action in Syria.
“I’m scared of the weight of responsibility. People are already saying: <<People are dying and what are you doing?>>
“And we are not doing much. That in itself is a terrible weight.”
Lakhdar Brahimi said he had so far failed to see “any cracks” in the “brick wall” that had defeated Mr Annan – an “intransigent” Syrian government, escalating rebel violence and a paralyzed UN Security Council, where China and Russia have vetoed several resolutions aimed at putting pressure on Damascus.
He said he would keep Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan – now seen by many as irrelevant – in his “tool box” for possible adaptation, but admitted he “had ideas, but no plan yet”, apart from talking to as many people as possible.
Addressing the Syrian government, he said the need for political change in Syria was “fundamental and urgent”, but – as he has previously – refused to be drawn on whether President Bashar al-Assad should step down, as the opposition and several Western leaders are demanding.
“Change cannot be cosmetic,” he said.
“There will be a new order, but I do not know who will be the people in the order. That’s for Syrians to decide.”
He also sought to keep a distance between himself and the rebels, who have criticized him for his cautious stance.
“Please remember I am not joining your movement,” he said.
“I am working for two international organizations, the United Nations and the Arab League, and I do not speak the same language as you.”
Lakhdar Brahimi’s comments came after another day of violence inside Syria on Sunday.
In Damascus, an explosion hit a district where major military and security compounds are located, reports say.
State TV described the blast – involving two bombs – as “terrorism” and said four people had been lightly injured.
Activists said more than 100 people were killed on Sunday, at least 25 of them in the village of al-Fan near Hama, when it was stormed by government forces.
Many of the 25, all men, were killed by army shelling, activist groups said, but they named at least nine who they said had been summarily executed in their homes by government forces or militia.
State television said security forces had attacked what it called an armed terrorist group in the area, killing all of them.
Rebels and government forces have been involved in a fierce battle for Damascus since July.
The building affected was a base for officers guarding the joint chiefs of staff offices nearby but was empty at the time, officials said.
Bomb attacks in Damascus and the largest city, Aleppo, have become increasingly frequent in recent months, with the authorities often blaming them on “armed terrorist gangs”.
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has made his first appearance in public since a bomb attack in Damascus last month killed several senior officials.
State TV showed Bashar al-Assad performing prayers in the capital’s al-Hamad mosque at the start of the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan.
Across the country, many people marked the holiday with prayers and anti-government demonstrations.
But opposition groups reported fierce bombardments of rebel-held areas.
Parts of Aleppo and Rastan have been shelled, and clashes reported in Herak, Deraa province, the pro-rebel Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Protests were held at cemeteries and mosques around Syria including Damascus, Hama and Idlib, opposition activists said.
Bashar al-Assad was shown seated on the mosque floor and standing to shake hands with clerics.
Syrian state TV showed Bashar al-Assad performing prayers in the capital's al-Hamad mosque at the start of the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan
Correspondents say that in previous years he was generally filmed arriving or leaving in his convoy, but this did not happen this time.
The Syrian president has not been seen in public since giving a speech in parliament on 4 July.
Two weeks later, a bombing in the state security headquarters killed four senior officials including Bashar al-Assad’s brother in law, Deputy Defence Minister Assef Shawkat.
There have also been several defections in recent weeks by senior officials, notably Prime Minister Riad Hijab.
However, on Saturday officials denied rumors that Vice-President Farouq al-Shara, the most senior Sunni Muslim in the Damascus regime, had gone over to the opposition.
The international community has welcomed the appointment of the veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN-Arab League envoy for Syria.
The 78-year-old succeeds Kofi Annan who resigned this month as his peace plan had failed to achieve a real ceasefire.
Analysts say he has a formidable reputation at the UN but is also seen as independent of the major powers.
Officials in Damascus have also given him their support.
However, opposition groups have expressed skepticism about his ability to accomplish his mission.
Lakhdar Brahimi has said it is too soon for him to demand that Bashar al-Assad should step down. Kofi Annan had said it was clear he should leave office.
Meanwhile, the mandate of the UN observer mission in Syria ends at midnight local time. The observers were deployed to monitor a ceasefire brokered by Kofi Annan, but no truce ever took hold.
Announcing his resignation earlier this month, Kofi Annan had said he was unable to fulfill his role because of the growing militarization of the conflict, as well as deadlock in the UN Security Council.
Russia and China have vetoed resolutions on the crisis three times, citing their opposition to any action which might be seen as regime change imposed from outside.
Activists estimate about 20,000 people have died since anti-government protests erupted against the Assad regime in March last year. Tens of thousands of people have also fled the country.
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Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has been appointed as the new UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, officials have confirmed.
Lakhdar Brahimi, 78, will succeed Kofi Annan, who resigned earlier this month after his six-point peace plan failed to achieve a meaningful ceasefire.
China was the first nation to give its reaction, promising to “co-operate positively” with Lakhdar Brahimi.
However, fighting has continued unabated in the northern city of Aleppo and the capital, Damascus.
Explosions were heard in a number parts of the Syrian capital overnight.
In Aleppo, government troops repulsed attacks by rebel forces near the airport on Friday, Syria’s state-run media said.
Rebel commanders also said they were fighting near the airport, telling the New York Times that their fighters had advanced to within metres of the airport fence.
The claims have not been verified independently.
Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi has been appointed as the new UN-Arab League envoy for Syria
Lakhdar Brahimi, whose appointment came a day after the UN called an end to its military observer mission, has held a long series of high-profile diplomatic posts.
As a senior Arab League official between 1984-91, Lakhdar Brahimi brokered an end to the Lebanese civil war, going on to serve as Algerian foreign minister between 1991-3.
Later, he was twice appointed as the UN’s top envoy for Afghanistan, from 1996-8 and from 2001-4. He has held similar roles for Haiti and South Africa.
A spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN welcomed Lakhdar Brahimi’s willingness to help stop “the violence and suffering in Syria”.
Announcing his resignation earlier this month, Kofi Annan had said he was unable to fulfill his role because of the growing militarization of the conflict, as well as the deadlock over the issue in the UN Security Council.
Russia and China have vetoed resolutions on the crisis three times, citing their opposition to any action which might be seen as regime change imposed from outside.
Co-operation was essential in order to find a peaceful resolution, said Lakhdar Brahimi.
“There is no doubt that I will be able to do strictly nothing if I do not have the support and if I do not have the co-operation of the Syrians,” he said.
But Lakhdar Brahimi also insisted diplomatic efforts should not be abandoned: “These missions have to be undertaken. We have got to try. We have got to see that the Syrian people are not abandoned.
“I might very well fail but we sometimes are lucky and we can get a breakthrough.”
At least 60 bodies were found earlier this week in the Damascus suburb of Qatana, activists said, following what the opposition described as a “massacre” by government forces.
A poor-quality video posted online showed what appeared to be the charred remains of dozens of people, many with their hands tied behind their backs.
Activists estimate about 20,000 people have died since anti-government protests erupted against the Assad regime in March last year. Tens of thousands of people have also fled the country.
The United Nations has decided to end its military observer mission in Syria, days before its mandate expired.
A small, civilian office will be set up instead to maintain political contacts.
“The conditions to continue UNSMIS were not filled,” France’s UN ambassador Gerard Araud said after a Security Council meeting.
The United Nations has decided to end its military observer mission in Syria, days before its mandate expired
The UN mission had been part of envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan. But continued violence made the observers’ mission increasingly difficult.
A bomb exploded close to their hotel in Damascus on Wednesday. The observers’ patrols were suspended in mid-June because of the “significant risk to their lives” and diplomats said the condition for renewing their mandate – a reduction in violence – had not been met.
Russia warned earlier that pulling out of Syria would have “serious negative consequences” for the region.
Moscow’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said Russia, which has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions on Syria, wanted the UN to make an international appeal for the Syrian conflict to end.
Kofi Annan resigned as UN-Arab League envoy to Syria a fortnight ago, complaining of a “clear lack of unity” in the Security Council.
Although the 101 remaining military observers will leave Damascus over the next eight days, a civilian liaison office is due to remain and a new special envoy is expected to be appointed.
Vitaly Churkin said Russia had called for a meeting on Friday of Security Council members as well as representatives from Saudi Arabia and Iran to discuss the crisis.
Foreign ministers from the Arab League are due to meet in the Saudi city of Jeddah for talks over Syrian crisis.
The ministers are expected to discuss a new envoy to Syria to replace Kofi Annan, who resigned earlier this month.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US and Turkey are working together on detailed plans to support the Syrian opposition.
Fighting has continued in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the second city of Aleppo.
Speaking on a visit to Istanbul, Hillary Clinton said both the US and Turkey were making preparations to respond to the possible collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the use of chemical weapons and increases in the number of cross-border refugees.
Kofi Annan resigned from his position as UN-Arab League envoy to Syria earlier this month, after his proposed six-point peace plan failed to come into effect and violence escalated.
Foreign ministers from the Arab League are due to meet in the Saudi city of Jeddah for talks over Syrian crisis
On the agenda for foreign ministers attending Sunday’s emergency meeting in Jeddah will be Kofi Annan’s replacement – tipped by diplomats to be the veteran Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi.
At the table will be envoys from Saudi Arabia and Qatar – leading backers of the rebels in Syria.
The mandate of the United Nations observer mission in Syria – which now comprises some 150 observers – is due to run out in a week’s time.
But UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says there still need to be people on the ground to make impartial assessments of the military situation.
The Security Council will discuss the issue on Thursday, but there is little consensus on the council, with Syrian ally Russia calling for an extension and the US skeptical about prolonging the mission.
Instead, the US is taking steps outside the structures of the UN to support Syrian opposition groups, such as the setting up of the working group with Turkey announced by Hillary Clinton in her meeting with her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday.
“Our number-one goal is to hasten the end of the bloodshed and the Assad regime,” she said.
“Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be setting up a working group to do exactly that.”
A “range of contingencies” was discussed, including the possible use of chemical weapons by the Assad government, Hillary Clinton added.
Meanwhile, inside Syria fighting is continuing.
Syrian state TV said authorities were hunting “terrorists” who had set off a bomb in Marjeh, an exclusive district of Damascus near the central bank, and who were “shooting at random to spark panic among citizens”.
At about the same time, another blast went off near Tishrin Stadium close by, reported state news agency Sana.
Hours later, Sana reported that a bus had been attacked in a Damascus suburb, said AP news agency, with six passengers from the central province of Hama killed. It blamed the attack on the “terrorists”.
Violence erupted again between the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) and government forces in the country’s largest city, Aleppo.
Activists said the army pounded areas south-west of Salah al-Din, from which the rebels retreated on Thursday.
Reports from Syria are difficult to confirm because of restrictions on reporters working there.
Kofi Annan is quitting as UN-Arab League envoy, the UN has announced.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Kofi Annan had decided not to renew his mandate when it expires at the end of August.
Kofi Annan authored a six-point peace plan for Syria which was intended to bring an end to the fighting.
But the plan was never fully adhered to by either side and the violence has continued.
Kofi Annan is quitting as UN-Arab League envoy
Ban Ki-moon said Kofi Annan deserved “our profound admiration for the selfless way in which he has put his formidable skills and prestige to this most difficult and potentially thankless of assignments”.
He said he was in discussion with the Arab League to find a successor to “carry on this crucial peacemaking effort”.
“I remain convinced that yet more bloodshed is not the answer; each day of it will only make the solution more difficult while bringing deeper suffering to the country and greater peril to the region,” he added.
Arab League foreign ministers have called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, as rebels are encouraged by last week’s assassinations in Damascus.
The rebels said the deaths of four top officials were a severe blow to the government.
Islamist rebels where he is are receiving weapons and money from outside.
Fighting continued overnight.
Government forces recaptured parts of Damascus, the suburbs of Barzeh and Mezzeh, which had fallen into rebel hands.
There and in other quarters, activists said a number of suspected rebels or sympathisers were summarily executed.
Syrian state TV on Monday showed images of Syrian forces going house to house and kicking down doors in Damascus, searching for any remaining rebel fighters.
Fighting was also reported in Syria’s second city, Aleppo.
Arab League foreign ministers have called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down
After an emergency meeting in Qatar, Arab League foreign ministers called on President Bashar al-Assad to resign rapidly, and offered his family safe passage out of Syria.
They also called on the Syrian opposition to form a transitional government.
The call appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
Bashar al-Assad held a meeting with his new army chief of staff and gave him instructions, reportedly including a drive to crush armed rebels.
The meeting followed last week’s attack in Damascus, in which four senior officials were killed in what the Syrian government described as a suicide blast.
Rebels outside Damascus say the assassinations were a blow to the government.
They said the once-feared secret police were now a spent force, and the government was relying entirely on a weakened military.
However, the rebels are divided, between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Salafists (hardline Islamists).
The Salafists are better armed, he says, because they are receiving weapons and money from outside.
Meanwhile, the EU is to tighten sanctions and an arms embargo against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
EU foreign ministers agreed to freeze the assets of 26 individuals and three firms close to the Syrian government.
They will be added to a blacklist which already contains the names of 129 people and 49 entities.
EU member states will also be required to send inspectors to board planes and ships believed to be carrying weapons or suspicious supplies to Damascus.
The inspections will only take place on the territory or in the territorial waters of EU states.
Britain and France are calling for more EU aid to refugees from Syria.
On Sunday, the US signed an agreement to give Jordan an additional $100 million to help refugees fleeing from Syria.
The elite fourth division of the Syrian army, commanded by President Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maher, led the attack on the Barzeh area of Damascus, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In Mezzeh, government forces “executed” at least 20 men in the area, some activists told the Reuters news agency by telephone.
The battle for control of Aleppo is still going on.
State TV played down the scale of the violence, saying troops were merely hunting down “terrorists”.
Rebel commanders have vowed to take it over completely and use it as a base for liberating the whole country, but state TV said many armed rebels had fled across the border to Turkey.
Rebels were now in control of the Bab al-Salam border crossing with Turkey. Turkey is not allowing non-Syrian nationals through so the border remains effectively closed.
There were also reports of violence in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour on Sunday. Witnesses told Reuters that it was being attacked with artillery and rockets from helicopter gunships.
At least 11 people have died in north-west Syria after a police van carrying prisoners was blown up on the Idlib-Ariha highway, reports say.
Sana, the official Syrian news agency, said the police van was attacked by an “armed group” on the Idlib-Ariha highway. An opposition group confirmed the incident but did not say who carried it out.
The news came as the Arab League hears a report by monitors observing implementation of its peace plan.
The league is due to decide whether to extend its mission in the coming days.
The 165-strong mission expired on Thursday with no sign of a halt to the government’s crackdown on protesters.
Analysts say the league is expected to renew the mission for another month.
The reports said Saturday’s attack happened in the Mastoumeh area in Idlib province.
Sana initially said 14 people had died, and 26 prisoners and six police were injured.
An ambulance which came to the aid of victims was also attacked, the agency added.
The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number of dead at 11. It said the van had been hit by several roadside bombs.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Violence across Syria on Friday resulted in seven people being killed by security forces, opposition groups said.
The UN Security Council was told earlier this month that 400 people had been killed during the monitors’ first 10 days in Syria.
The UN had previously said that more than 5,000 had died since protests against President Bashar al-Assad erupted last March.
The government in Damascus says that some 2,000 members of the security forces have also been killed combating “armed gangs and terrorists”.
In a separate development, the US says it is considering closing its embassy in Damascus because of increasing safety concerns.
Officials in Washington say they are talking to the Syrian authorities, as well as to the British and Chinese governments, who have embassies nearby. But no final decision had been taken.
The conclusions reached by the Arab League mission’s head, Sudanese Gen Mohammed al-Dabi, had been due to be discussed by a committee of ministers on Saturday, but unconfirmed reports say ministerial talks will not now be held earlier than Sunday.
The panel is chaired by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad al-Thani, whose country has previously suggested sending Arab peacekeepers to Syria.
Damascus has firmly rejected the idea.
It appears that there is no clearly thought out alternative to the monitoring mission, and no appetite – as yet – for a radical change of course.
League officials have already hinted that the most likely outcome will be to renew the mission for another month, possibly doubling the number of observers on the ground.
Last week, the head of the Arab League’s Cairo operations room, Adnan al-Khudeir, said the observers would remain in 17 difference places around Syria until the final decision is made.
Although the mandate of the observer mission came to an end formally on Thursday, the agreement covering it provides for an extension for a second month if both sides agree.
So far there has been no suggestion from Damascus that the monitors should be withdrawn.
