Annan
briefed a closed meeting of the U.N. Security Council by videoconference from
Geneva on Wednesday on his meeting with Assad and visits to Iran and Iraq.
Meanwhile,
Interfax news agency quoted the deputy head of the Federal
Service for Military Cooperation, Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, as saying that Russia will continue
providing Syria with anti-aircraft missile systems.
International stances
In international positions, the
spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry Bernard Valero said that the new Russian draft law on Syria in the U.N.
Security Council “does not meet up with international expectations.”
On another note, Iranian
officials told international envoy to Syria Kofi Annan said that monitoring the
Syrian borders to prevent the smuggling of weapons to the Syrian opposition is “the
main problem”.
Defection of Syrian ambassador to Baghdad
Syria's ambassador to Iraq
defected in protest at the military crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad's
forces against a 16-month revolt, Syrian opposition sources said on Wednesday.
Nawaf al-Fares, who was closely linked
to the security establishment, would be the first senior Syrian diplomat to
defect. He is from Deir al-Zor which has been the scene of a ferocious military
onslaught by Assad forces.
In the field
The vicinity of rural
Damascus witnessed clashes between government forces and opposition fighters,
followed by a wide scaled campaign of raids and arrests. Shelling on Wednesday mainly
targeted the central city of Homs, according to the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights.
At least 9 deaths were
reported as violence swept across Syria.