Syrian rebel groups have freed 48 Iranians captured over recent months in the country in exchange for prisoners held by Syrian security services, Iran's state-run Press TV said on Wednesday.
The report - which has not been confirmed - did not specify the number of prisoners released by the Syrian government but said they included Turks.
It was later announced that the released hostages arrived at the Sheraton hotel in central Damascus. The men were accompanied by the Iranian ambassador to Syria and arrived in six small buses, looking tired but in good health.
The Iranians were captured in Damascus in August by rebel groups who alleged they were members of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tehran denied this, saying they were Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims visiting a shrine in Syria.
For its part, the Turkish Islamic Humanitarian Relief
Foundation told AFP that Syrian authorities released 2130 civilian prisoners in
exchange for the Iranian hostages.
On a separate note, Russian and U.S. diplomats plan to hold a meeting with the international mediator for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, on Friday in Geneva, Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying on Wednesday.
Russian and U.S. diplomats held two trilateral meetings last month with Brahimi who is trying to end the nearly 22-month-old conflict between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and its opponents.
Meanwhile, Brahimi dismissed a speech by Bashar al-Assad, saying the Syrian president's proposal to end the crisis was no better than previous failed initiatives.
"I'm afraid what has come out is very much a repeat of previous initiatives that obviously did not work ... it's not really different and perhaps is even more sectarian and one-sided," he told the BBC.
"The time of reforms granted magnanimously from above has passed. People want to have a say in how they are governed and they want to take hold of their own future."
"In Syria, in particular, I think that what people are saying is that a family ruling for 40 years is a little bit too long. So the change has to be real. It has to be real, and I think that President Assad could take the lead in responding to the aspiration of his people rather than resisting it," Brahimi added.
This as, Syria's information minister has slammed the international community for rejecting a proposal by President Bashar Assad aimed at ending the country's civil war.
Omran al-Zoubi says countries like the United States and its Western allies, who have called on Assad to step down since the uprising against his rule began in March 2011, have dismissed Assad's initiative "before even having the time to translate it."
Al-Zoubani was speaking in Damascus late Tuesday after an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the proposal.
Russia said on that the ideas aired by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a speech on Sunday - criticized by his opponents, the United States and the U.N. chief - should be taken into account in the search for a solution to the conflict.
Assad "affirmed readiness for the launch of an inter-Syrian dialogue and for reforming the country on the basis of Syria's sovereignty ... and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
In a rare speech Sunday, Assad outlined his vision for ending almost two years of bloodshed with a plan that would keep him in power. He called for dialogue, but only with those "who have not betrayed Syria."
The opposition rejected the offer, which also drew harsh international criticism.
On the ground:
The Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights reported that four children belonging to the same
family were killed after raids were conducted against the city of Homs Tuesday
overnight.
The village
of Jbab was also heavily bombarded leaving 10 people dead, the Observatory
added.
Several rebel groups launched attacks against
an intelligence headquarters in the town of Farkalas, leading to several deaths
and injuries.
In Damascus
Reef, the Observatory reported a number of explosions between the towns of
Arbeen and Hrasta, followed by heavy gunfire.
The towns of
Hjayra, Sayida Zaynab, Maadamiya and surroundings of the Damascus Reef were subject
to shelling with regime forces attacking rebel cells in the area.
In the Idlib province,
the strategic town of Maarat el Numan was heavily bombarded, but no reports of
any death s or injuries were made.
REUTERS/AP/LBCI
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