Diplomatic efforts surge for Syria as violence reaps a toll of 20...

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Government shelling in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa killed about 20 people, at least 8 of them children, a video posted by activists on Wednesday showed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published a video showing rows of the blood-stained bodies laid out on blankets. The sound of crying relatives could be heard in the background.

The shelling hit the province's al-Qahtania village, but it was unclear when the attack happened.

This as the head of Syria's military police defected from the army and declared allegiance to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to a video and a security source.

"I am General Abdelaziz Jassim al-Shalal, head of the military police. I have defected because of the deviation of the army from its primary duty of protecting the country and its transformation into gangs of killing and destruction," the officer said in a video published on YouTube.

A Syrian security source confirmed the defection but played down its significance, saying that Shalal was due to retire and had defected to "play hero."

This after clashes renewed overnight in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory explained that parts of the camp witnessed clashes which lasted until dawn between Syrian opposition figures including Palestinians and gunmen from pro-regime Palestinian popular committees.

The British based Observatory had reported that the death toll has exceeded 45 thousand victims since the violence began some 21 months ago in Syria.

For his part and in his Christmas message to the world Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to the slaughter in Syria and for more meaningful negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, while encouraging more religious freedom under China's new leaders.

Delivering the traditional speech from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.

The pope prayed that China's new leadership may "esteem the contribution of the religions, in respect for each other" to help build a "fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people.

As the 85-year-old pontiff, bundled up in an ermine-trimmed red cape, gingerly stepped foot on the balcony, the pilgrims, tourists and Romans below backing St. Peter's Square erupted in cheers.

Separately, the Syrian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar left on Wednesday Lebanon for Damascus, airport authorities said, after receiving treatment in Beirut for wounds sustained in a rebel bomb attack earlier this month.

International positions

The international envoy on Syria will visit Moscow this weekend for talks on the crisis, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will arrive in Moscow on one-day visit Saturday, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

In this context, an airport source in Beirut said that the Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mokdad headed for Moscow amid reports of a U.S.-Russian initiative for a transition in Syria.

The sources added that Mokdad was accompanied by the Foreign Ministry official Ahmed Arnus and mentioned that his plane took off Beirut International Airport on Tuesday midnight.

Also in international positions, the Foreign Minister of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan hosted the head of the Syrian opposition coalition Ahmad Maaz al-Khatib in Abu Dhabi and said that his country endorses a “non-sectarian political transition” in Syria.

He voiced the UAE’s determination to support a future non-sectarian transitional government in Syria.

Al Nahyan stressed the UAE’s support for the efforts exerted by international envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi to put an end to violence and work with all categories of the society to build a modern Syria.

LBCI/AP

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Diplomatic efforts surge for Syria as violence reaps a toll of 20 deaths including 8 children