According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian State TV, a car bomb exploded in the eastern Damascus district of Qaboun on Saturday and initial reports said a number of people had been killed, and injured.
The group also reported clashes between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the edge of the southern Damascus neighbourhood of Hajar al-Aswad. The district is next to the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, which was taken over by rebels this week.
Earlier, a
cameraman who works for the Syrian state
television was killed in a neighborhood west of Damascus.
The Greek Orthodox
Patriarch Youhanna Yazigi stressed on the
importance of renouncing violence in all its forms and sitting for dialogue
since it is for the country's benefit.
Patriarch Yazigi added
that this difficult period will eventually end and stability will prevail in
Syria.
On the other hand, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that neither side would win the civil war in Syria, and that China and Russia would be unable to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to quit even if they tried.
In comments cleared for release on Saturday, Lavrov also said Syria's chemical weapons had been concentrated in one or two areas and were "under control" for the time being.
This as, the NATO announced it has picked three sites in southern Turkey to base batteries of Patriot surface-to-air missiles intended to boost the nation's air defenses against possible spillover from Syria.
Germany, the Netherlands and the United States will provide two batteries each of an advanced version of the Patriot optimized to shoot down incoming missiles. More than 1,000 troops from the three nations will service the batteries.
Spokeswoman Oana Lungescu reiterated in a statement Saturday that the deployment will be purely defensive and will not support a no-fly zone inside Syria.
The Germans will be based unit at Kahramanmaras, located about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the Syrian border; the Dutch at Adana, about 100 kilometers (66 miles) west; and the Americans at Gaziantep, about 50 kilometers north.
In turn, Iran's defense minister was
quoted as saying on Saturday that the installation of Patriot anti-missile batteries
sent by NATO members to bolster Turkey's defenses against a possible missile
attack from Syria will only harm Turkey's security, .
NATO approved Turkey's request for the air defense system
earlier this month, in a move meant to calm Ankara's fears of being hit by
Syrian missiles.
Iran has strongly supported its Arab ally President Bashar
al-Assad of Syria as he attempts to suppress a 21-month-old uprising against
his rule.
Tehran opposes the installation of NATO missiles as Western
interference in the region and has said it could lead to a "world
war."
"The installation of Patriot missiles in Turkey plays
no role in establishing Turkey's security and this harms the country of
Turkey," Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Saturday, according
to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).
"The West has always pursued
its viewpoints and interests and we disagree with the presence of Western
countries in regional interactions."
Vahidi also denied that Iran is training Syrian forces to
battle the rebels, ISNA reported. Iran considers itself, Syria's rulers and the
Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah as part of an "axis of
resistance" against US and Israeli power in the Middle East, but has
denied accusations that it helping Assad militarily.
"Syria has no need for the training of its forces by
the Islamic Republic of Iran, because Syria has a powerful military which has
prepared itself for involvement with the Zionist regime (Israel)," Vahidi
said.
REUTER/LBCI