Rebels fighting in the Syrian capital declared Damascus International Airport a military zone on Friday, warning civilians and airlines not to approach it.
Earlier, Opposition activists said forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had sent troops backed up by tanks to Moadamiah and Daraya, suburbs to the south west of the city that are close to a large military airport.
If rebels can hold those two districts they will have a continuous arc of control from the northeast to southwest of the capital, cornering Damascus against the Qasioun mountain range.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked monitor, said that troops were massing on the outskirts of the areas in preparation for an advance.
Reuters could not independently confirm the reports due to severe government restrictions on media access.
Meanwhile, an anti-regime protest under the slogan “No to 'peacekeeping' forces in Syria,” was staged, while the
army continued its operations against the militants of Al-Nusra
Front, affiliated with
al-Qaeda in Reef Damascus.
On another hand, the Dutch government has agreed to send two Patriot missile systems to Turkey after Ankara asked NATO for assistance in defending its border with Syria, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Friday, citing the Dutch foreign minister.
A maximum of 360 personnel will accompany the two surface-to-air missile batteries. It has not yet been decided where they will be sited.
Positions:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested there is only a slim chance of finding a solution to the crisis in Syria at talks with the United States and international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, according to comments published on Friday.
This as the AFP reported that Russia denied the
presence chemical weapons in Syria following a confirmation from Damascus.
Lavrov, who met Brahimi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Dublin on Thursday, confirmed a US State Department official's statement that US and Russian officials would hold a follow-up meeting with Brahimi in coming days.
"Russia and the United States agreed that our experts will meet in the coming days with Brahimi and his people for a brainstorm and an exchange of opinions on how to move forward toward a resolution," Lavrov said.
"I would not make optimistic predictions, but I will say that we found it unjustified to refuse (Brahimi's) request for a meeting. The United States shares this position," he said, according to a Foreign Ministry transcript of his remarks.
Lavrov echoed Brahimi by saying the talks would be based on the Geneva Declaration, which was agreed at a meeting in June involving international powers and called for a transitional administration in Syria.
Lavrov said that Brahimi understands that the chances of success are "far from 100 percent" but believes Russia and the United States can play leading roles in trying to determine what can be done to implement the agreement reached in Geneva.
The United States and Russia disagreed at the time over what the Geneva Declaration meant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, with Clinton saying it set a clear signal that he must quit and Lavrov saying it suggested nothing of the kind.
Russia has tried to distance itself from Assad at times in public comments over the past year, despite using its U.N. Security Council veto three times to block Western and Arab efforts to push him out or press him to end the bloodshed.
Lavrov said Russia was ready for constructive talks, but gave no indication it was stepping back from its position that Assad's fate must not be decided by outside forces and his exit cannot be a precondition for a political dialogue in Syria.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
said on Friday he was not aware of any confirmed reports that Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad was preparing to use chemical weapons but that if he did so it
would be an "outrageous crime" with "huge consequences".
"Recently we have been receiving
alarming news that the Syrian government may be preparing to use chemical
weapons. We have no confirmed reports on this matter," Ban said after
visiting a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey.
"However, if it is the case, then it
will be an outrageous crime in the name of humanity."
Ban Ki-moon called on the international community and the UN Security Council on Friday to unite and take decisive action to end the conflict in Syria, saying only a political solution could end the violence.
Meanwhile, the leader of Syria's new opposition group will join European Union foreign ministers at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, bolstering the movement's growing status among Western powers.
Mouaz Alkhatib, the head of the Syrian National Coalition, will attend at least part of the meeting, a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief, said on Friday.
For its part, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been in touch
with the Syrian government about both biological and chemical weapons
whose use is illegal under international humanitarian law.
REUTERS