Russia says Syria opposition to visit Moscow next week

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday he would meet Syrian opposition leaders in Moscow next week to discuss the possibility of ending violence in the country.   

"We will use this coming meeting with yet another Syrian opposition group to continue work to end violence and start Syrian dialogue between the government and all groups of the Syrian opposition as soon as possible," Lavrov said at a briefing with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh.   

It was not clear which members of the fractured opposition movement he would meet.

Seperateley, France said on Tuesday that Russia will not send representative to Friends of Syria Meeting in Paris on Friday.

Meanwhile, Turkey's armed forces command said on Tuesday it had scrambled  F-16 fighter jets for a third consecutive day on Monday after Syrian transport helicopters were spotted flying near to the Turkey-Syrian border, but there was no violation of Turkish airspace.
   
It said in a statement a total of six jets, four from a base in Incirlik in the south and two from Batman in eastern Turkey were scrambled in response to Syrian helicopters flying south of the Turkish province of Hatay, within 1.7-4.5 nautical miles of the Turkish border.

The Syrian army pressed its offensive against rebels on Tuesday, bombarding the suburban Damascus city of Douma, while President Bashar al-Assad said he wished his forces had not shot down a Turkish warplane two weeks ago.
   
The downing of the Turkish F4 in disputed circumstances aggravated tensions between Damascus and Ankara, which responded with high-profile military moves to ward off Syrian helicopters from Turkey's border zone where rebels and refugees are camped.

REUTERS/AP