Russian Black Sea Fleet sailors on mission off Syria

The Russian Black Sea Fleet's Iman tanker with an anti-terrorist squad aboard is on a mission off Syria, and the Russian Equator reconnaissance ship is operating in the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea Fleet Staff told Interfax-AVN on Monday.

"The Iman medium seagoing tanker has successfully sailed from Sevastopol to the Syrian cost. It is staying at the Tartous port to perform its mission. Marines make up the anti-terrorist squad based on the tanker," the Staff said. Russia's foreign minister voiced clear support for a plan for daily humanitarian ceasefires in Syria and promised Russia would press President Bashar al-Assad's government to accept it, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday.
   
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "clearly agreed to and was supportive of" the idea of a daily two-hour cessation of hostilities to allow for life-saving aid operations, ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger told Reuters after talks with Lavrov.
   
Asked whether Lavrov had promised that Russia would pressure Syria's government on the plan, he said, "Yes, very much so."

After Lavrov met the ICRC's president, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has given "positive indications" on proposals for a daily two-hour halt in fighting in Syria.

"During the meeting the ICRC received positive indications of support on its operational priorities and its initiative of a two-hour cessation of fighting on a daily basis," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters in Geneva.
   
The independent humanitarian agency hoped to see "concrete results" on the ground in Syria in coming days or weeks, Hassan said after ICRC chief Jakob Kellenberger and Lavrov met for 90 minutes in Moscow.

Meanwhile, Rebels fought security forces in Damascus on Monday, in the most violent gunbattles the Syrian capital has seen since the start of the year-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, opposition activists said.
   
The heavy fighting shattered the night calm in the upscale al-Mezze district and came just two days after a double car bombing had killed at least 27 people in the heart of the city.
   
"These clashes were the most violent and the closest to the security force headquarters in Damascus since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution," said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
   
He said 18 government troops were wounded in the fighting, which broke out just after midnight in the west of the capital, pitching army defectors against pro-Assad forces.
   
A joint team of experts from the United Nations and the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, led by the Syrian government, have started a mission to assess humanitarian needs across the country, a source close the mission said on Monday.
   
The group is due to visit areas hit by the uprising including the city of Homs, scene of a month-long siege and military bombardment in February, and Deraa, where the revolt against Assad erupted a year ago.
   
The U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, is expected to send a team of experts to Damascus later on Monday to discuss his proposal to dispatch international monitors to Syria in a bid to stem the violence.
   
Assad, who has received crucial backing from both Russia and China on the U.N.-Security Council, has questioned the worth of such a mission.