Syrian former Deputy Oil Minister Abdo Hussameddin said on Saturday that it was “well-known” that Vice President Faruq
al-Sharaa had tried to leave and was under house arrest.
Following conflicting reports on the possible defection of al-Sharaa, Damascus confirmed Saturday that the VP has not
defected from the regime.
Later on Saturday, al-Sharaa’s office stressed that the latter did not think
for a second about leaving Syria.
The Free Syrian Army corrected what it earlier reported regarding the
defection of al-Sharaa, saying that the defection process “may have been unsuccessful”.
On the field
The Syrian Air Force resumed its shelling of
the city of Aazaz located in Aleppo Reef near the Turkish border, a day after
the killing of 129 people across Syrian regions, according to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights.
In Aleppo which has been witnessing military
operations for weeks, several neighborhoods were shelled, while fierce clashes
erupted between pro-regime troops and opposition fighters near the Saadallah Al-Jabiri Square
and the Municipal Stadium.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 7 were
killed in Homs on Saturday while the Khalidiya neighborhood was shelled
by pro-regime forces.Meanwhile, the Syrian TV confirmed that
the regime will continue chasing the terrorist mercenaries in Aleppo.
The TV also reported that a warehouse in Homs was blown up and a group
of militants were ambushed in Hasaka while they were trying to smuggle
weaponry.
The Syrian TV broadcasted a video showing the release
of 70 citizens who were involved in the latest events in Syria but who
were not murderers.
International positions
The new UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar
Brahimi, told FRANCE 24 he is not completely confident the conflict in Syria could
be ended, but stressed that despite everything, he is armed with hope.
“What I am confident of is that I am going to try my utmost, my very, very
best”, he said.
In this regard, Beijing welcomed Saturday the appointment of Brahimi
as UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, stressing its willingness to “cooperate” with
him and support him in his mission to put an end to the ongoing bloody conflict
in Syria.
Sky News Arabia quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying in comments broadcast on Saturday.
"Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that his country rejects the imposition of any no-fly zone on Syria," Sky News Arabia reported on its website.
No member of the United Nations Security Council has proposed a no-fly zone but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Aug. 11 the United States did not rule out the option. Days later, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that a no-fly zone over Syria was not a "front-burner" issue.
For the full LBCI report, please click on the video above
LBCI/REUTERS