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Sunday
Feb032013

Syria Live Coverage: Diplomatic Breakthrough? Opposition Leader Meets Russia & Iran Foreign Ministers

Claimed footage of the moment that a mortar strike killed three activists in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta

See also Iraq (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Dozens Killed in Attack on Police Headquarters
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: Aid Reaches an Opposition-Held Town


1926 GMT: Casualties. Claimed footage from the al-Ansari section of Aleppo of men digging for survivors in a collapsed building, reportedly struck by a by regime shelling:

1244 GMT: Refugees. Jordanian riot police have fired tear gas to disperse Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp as they fought over tents being distributed by a Norwegian charity.

An official said one refugee was slightly hurt.

Since it opened in July, the Zaatari camp, home to more than 90,000 Syrian refugees, has had several protests against poor living conditions.

Jordan, which is setting up a second refugee camp northeast of Amman, says it currently hosts about 340,000 Syrians, 200,000 of whom are registered with the United Nations.

1237 GMT: Assad and Iran. State news agency SANA reports that President Assad met this morning with Saeed Jalili, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Talking about Israel's airtrike on Wednesday on a scientific research centre, Assad "stressed that Syria is capable of confronting current challenges and repelling any aggression targeting the Syrian people".

Jalili reportedly gave "Iran's full support to the Syrian people in confronting the Zionist entity and its keenness on continuing coordination with Syria for confronting external conspiracies and schemes that aim to destabilise the region". He also expressed "appreciation for [Assad's] political solution plan for solving the crisis".

0951 GMT: Post-Assad Police? Al Jazeera English's Zeina Khodr reports on an attempt by the opposition to create a police force in the areas of Aleppo that it holds:

0805 GMT: Casualties. The Local Coordination Committees claim 120 people killed on Saturday, including 10 children and eight women.

Fifty-eight of the deaths were in Damascus and its suburbs and 25 in Aleppo Province.

0715 GMT: The Opposition, Russia, and Iran. Moaz al-Khatib, the head of the opposition National Coalition, has met the foreign ministers of Russia and Iran for the first time.

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, al-Khatib saw Russia's Sergei Lavrov, before he had a 45-minute discussion with Iran's Ali Akbar Salehi.

Lavrov put out the neutral statement,  "I reminded Khatib that after the creation of the coalition and the appointment of their leader, we immediately demonstrated our interest in maintaining regular contact." 

Al-Khatib went farther, saying he had been invited to Moscow for more talks.

After the meeting with Salehi, a-Khatib said simply, "We agreed we have to find a solution to end the suffering of the Syrian people."

The encounters follow al-Khatab's statement this week that he would enter negotiations with President Assad, provided conditions were met such as the release of politial prisoners.

Reports earlier this week said the opposition leader would be in a four-way meeting with Lavrov, US Vice President Joe Biden, and United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi; however, Moscow denied that talks would go that far.

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