Air raids kill at least 22 in Syria's Aleppo

Syrian rebel leaders said they would do all they could to protect journalists but were hampered by infighting, after international news organisations complained kidnappings were preventing full media coverage of the civil war.
   
In a letter over the weekend, the western-backed Supreme Military Council (SMC), which is in charge of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), said it would seek to free all journalists who have been abducted.
   
At least 30 journalists are estimated by media organisations to be being held.
   
The SMC is the main body representing moderate rebel fighters but it has no sway over extremist groups suspected of carrying out abductions.
   
"It is imperative that we reiterate that the FSA, along with all of its units and brigades, will do its utmost to protect and support journalists in order that they can fulfil their vital work," a letter from the SMC said.

Prominent Shiite cleric backs fighting in Syria:

A leading Shiite Muslim cleric widely followed by Iraqi militants has issued the first public religious edict permitting Shiites to fight in Syria's civil war alongside President Bashar Assad's forces.
     
The fatwa by Iran-based Grand Ayatollah Kazim al-Haeri, one of the mentors of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, comes as thousands of Shiite fighters mostly from Iraq and Lebanon play a major role in the battles.
    
The call likely will increase the sectarian tones of the war, which pits overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels against members of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The situation has worsened with the influx of thousands of Shiite and Sunni foreign fighters.

France says "pessimistic" on Syria:

France's foreign minister said on Saturday he was "pessimistic" about the situation in Syria and had great doubts about the success of a proposed peace conference to be held in Switzerland next month.    

"In Syria, I am sadly quite pessimistic," Laurent Fabius told delegates at the World Policy Conference in Monaco.    

France, one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's fiercest critics, was the first Western power to provided non-lethal military aid to the Free Syrian Army, while it was also the first Western state to recognize the Syrian National Coalition as the sole representative of the Syrian people.    

"We are working on the success of (the Geneva talks), but we can have a great deal of doubt on that. If sadly it isn't successful, that would mean this martyred country will continue to suffer as will its neighbors," Fabius said.    

About 30 ministers from big powers, regional countries and others are due to gather in the Swiss resort of Montreux on Jan. 22 to give their blessing to the negotiations between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting to oust him.    

The stated goal is to agree on a transitional government with full powers to end a 1,000-day-old conflict that has killed well over 100,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.    

Fabius dampened expectations on the Swiss talks and acknowledged for the first time that Syria's moderate opposition was in trouble.    

"Bashar al-Assad says he will send representatives to Geneva. While Mr Assad has a lot of faults, he is not an idiot ... we can't see why he would hand over all his powers. As for the opposition that we support, it is in great difficulty," Fabius said.  

On the field:

Syrian activists say government air raids have killed at least 22 people, including 14 children, in the northern city of Aleppo.
     
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the aircraft dropped barrel bombs on the Haidariya and Ard al-Hamra neighborhoods on Sunday.
     
The anti-government group monitors the Syrian civil war through a network of activists on the ground.
     
The Observatory also said the number people killed in the town of Adra northeast of Damascus after an al-Qaida-linked rebel faction attacked on Wednesday has risen to 28.
     
Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman says the dead are primarily members of President Bashar Assad's minority Alawite sect, as well as a few Druse and Shiite Muslims. All three sects largely support Assad in the fight against mainly Sunni rebels.


REUTERS/AP