A Reuters witness heard a loud explosion and saw black smoke rising from near the Palace of Justice in central Damascus on Thursday, and Syrian state television reported a "terrorist explosion" at the court building's car park.
Earlier in the day, a Turkish military convoy including anti-aircraft missiles left a base near the Syrian border on Thursday and headed for a Turkish province housing a large camp for Syrian refugees, local agencies said.
Video from the DHA agency showed the convoy, of about 12 trucks and transporters, filing through the gates of the base past the hanging Turkish red flag emblazoned with white crescent moon and star.
The Dogan agency said the convoy, from the 5th Mechanised Armoured Brigade, headed for Kilis province, site of a large container refugee camp. Traffic was closed on some roads to allow the convoy through.
A Turkish official earlier announced that Turkey is deploying troops along its border with Syria after one of its jets was shot down by Syria over the Mediterranean last week.
Russia
said on Thursday that multilateral talks on Annan's plan should seek to secure
a ceasefire but not determine in advance the shape of a possible government of
national unity.
"The meeting in Geneva was intended to
support Kofi Annan's plan and it must set the conditions for the end of
violence and the start of an all-Syrian national dialogue, and not predetermine
the contents of this dialogue," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a
briefing.
Lavrov is expected to discuss Annan's
proposal, aimed at ending the 16-month conflict in Syria, with the other four
permanent U.N. Security Council members and key players in the Middle East in
Geneva on Saturday.
Speaking in Moscow, Lavrov said that the
Annan plan was not, however, a final document and he expressed dismay that it
had been leaked to the media ahead of the Geneva talks.
Lavrov reiterated Russian warnings against
a Libyan-style intervention in Syria, warning the consequences would be
"more catastrophic".
He
also criticized the exclusion of regional power Iran from the negotiations.
Annan has said that Iran should attend the Geneva talks but diplomats say that
the United States, Saudi Arabia and other countries objected.
Lavrov confirmed that Russia supports changes in Syria that help achieve national unity and reform.
"It is obvious that Syria needs a
transitional phase; the fate of Assad should be decided through a Syrian
national dialogue" he added.
Russia denied comments on Thursday by a U.S. official that it has endorsed a Syrian transition plan that includes a call for President Bashar Assad to give up power in favor of a national unity government.
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss diplomatic negotiations, says international envoy Kofi Annan has assured the United States that world powers gathering in Geneva for talks have endorsed the plan and that Russia is among its backers.
Separately, Syrian opposition groups said on Thursday they would not accept a political transition plan proposed by international envoy Kofi Annan unless it explicitly required President Bashar al-Assad to step down ahead of the formation of a unity government.
According to diplomatic sources at the United Nations, Annan's proposal, aimed at ending the 16-month conflict in Syria, does not stipulate Assad's resignation, although it does say the unity government could not include figures who jeopardize stability.
"The proposal is still murky to us but I can tell you that if it does not clearly state that Assad must step down, it will be unacceptable to us," said Samir Nashar, an executive member of the international Syrian National Council.
Meanwhile, Russia and other big powers have told Annan they support his idea of a Syrian national unity cabinet that could include government and opposition members but would exclude those whose participation would undermine it, envoys said on Wednesday.
The proposal is one of the main topics that Russia, the other four permanent Security Council members and other key players in the Middle East will discuss at a meeting in Geneva on Saturday about the 16-month conflict in Syria, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
"It could comprise present government members, opposition and others, but would need to exclude those whose continued participation or presence would jeopardize the transition's credibility, or harm prospects for reconciliation and stability," a diplomat said, summarizing Annan's proposal.
The diplomat added that the idea of excluding certain people was clearly referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, though Annan's proposal does not explicitly say Assad could not serve in a national unity government.
REUTERS/LBCI/AP