Clashes continues in Syria, opposition leader renews desire for dialogue

Source : Xinhua

DAMASCUS, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- Clashes have continued in Syria, particularly in the south and east of the capital Damascus as the head of the main opposition coalition reiterated desire to embark on talks with representatives of the administration of President Bashar al-Assad.

Clashes continued Saturday in the southern sprawling suburbs of Daraya and Muadamieh between the rebels and the government troops amid reports that the Syrian military has beefed up presence in the vicinity of those areas to hasten dislodging the rebels and ending the fight there that has been dragging on for more than two months.

The reports said that the battles continued also in the eastern suburbs of Ghouta and Douma and the Beit Sahem town near the road to the international airport of Damascus.

The violence continues as the head of the main opposition coalition, Moaz al-Khatib, repeated on Friday previous surprising statement that he is ready to embark of talks with Assad's regime with conditions such as to release detainees and renew documents of Syrians abroad.

His remarks came during a late-night panel talks with joined UN- Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi at the Munich Security Conference, a day ahead of their meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.

The U.S. vice president is also set to meet the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday after his meeting with both Brahimi and al-Khatib.

The broad-based opposition has for long rejected any dialogue with the Assad administration until the ouster of Assad himself, but the recent statement by al-Khatib stipulated no departure of Assad as a prelude to dialogue. Al-Khatib said that the talks would be held with Syrian officials whose hands didn't smear in Syrians blood.

Last Wednesday, al-Khatib said the same stance on his Facebook page, but the oppositional Syrian National Council said his remarks were personal and didn't reflect the stance of all opposition factions abroad.

During his Munich meeting, al-Khatib also called for "some sort of electronic hacking" to hinder the bombardment of Syrian aircraft to populated areas and "if that doesn't work," he said, " I would demand to destroy the planes and weapons of the Syrian regime."

He warned that the persistent of the 22-month conflict in Syria would have grave repercussions on the entire region, calling on the international community not to be "bystanders" regarding what is happening in Syria.