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Friday, May 24th 04:32 PM IST
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Damascus, Syria GALLERY.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) speaks with Shukri Bin Suleiman Harmasi (R), secretary general of the Tunisian al-Thawabit (Immutable Principles) Party, and head of a Tunisian delegation consisting of representatives of Tunisian political parties, and economic and popular movements, during a meeting in Damascus in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA on May 23, 2013. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (
Civilians help a person, injured by what activists said was a rocket fired by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Arbaeen near Damascus May 20, 2013 in this picture provided by the Shaam News Network. Picture taken May 20, 2013. Ammar Al-Erbeeni/Shaam News Network/Handout via Reuters. Civilians help a person, injured by
FILE - This Saturday, July 21, 2012 file citizen journalist image shot through a broken car window shows smoke billowing from a building after fighting between rebels and Syrian troops in the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees in south Damascus, Syria. Syria's fighting has uprooted more than half of the country's 530,000 Palestinians descendants of refugees from a Mideast conflict half a century ago and their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, the head of a U.N. aid agency said Thursday, May 23, 2013. The Palestinians in Syria are particularly vulnerable because of their refugee status, Filippo Grandi, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, told The Associated Press in an interview. FILE - This Saturday, July 21, 2012
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, third right, meets with a Tunisian delegation composed of representatives of political parties and movements, economic and popular in support of him, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, May. 23, 2013. In this photo released by the Syria
Syrian regime supporters hold Jordanian and Syrian flags during a protest outside Le Meridien Hotel where takes place the 'Friends of Syria' group to discuss a US-Russian proposal for peace talks on May 22, 2013 in the Jordanian capital Amman. The Damascus regime's ambassador to Jordan lashed out at the group's meeting describing it as a gathering of 'enemies of Syria'. Syrian regime supporters hold Jorda
In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke and fire rises after explosives were dropped by a Syrian government warplane in Yabroud near Damascus, Syria, Monday May 20, 2013. The Syrian regime claims there is no civil war in the country but that the army is fighting foreign-backed terrorists trying to topple Assad's government. More than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011. In this image taken from video obta
In this image from amateur video obtained by a group which calls itself Ugarit News, a rebel runs from an explosion, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Qusair, Syria. The video is consistent with independent AP reporting. Hezbollah was pulled more deeply into Syria's civil war as 28 guerrillas from the Lebanese Shiite militant group were killed and dozens more wounded while fighting rebels, Syria activists said Monday. The intense battle drove rebels from large parts of Qusair, part of a withering government offensive aimed at securing a strategic land corridor from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast. In this image from amateur video ob
AP10ThingsToSee - In this image from amateur video obtained by a group called Ugarit News, a rebel runs from an explosion, Sunday, May 19, 2013 in Qusair, Syria. An intense battle drove rebels from large parts of Qusair, part of a withering government offensive aimed at securing a strategic land corridor from Damascus to the Mediterranean coast. AP10ThingsToSee - In this image fro
ALTERNATE CROP -- Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Israel, May 19, 2013. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose air force struck suspected weapons shipments to Hezbollah from Damascus twice this month, warned at a weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel is prepared for any eventuality in Syria. ALTERNATE CROP -- Israel's Prime Mi
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad gestures during an interview with journalists from Argentina in Damascus in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA on May 18, 2013. SANA/Handout via Reuters. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad g
This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, claims to show Syrians inspecting a damaged car at the scene of a car bomb which exploded, in Damascus, Syria, Saturday, May 18, 2013. A car bomb killed at least three people and wounded five, according to Syrian state TV. It said bomb experts dismantled other explosives in the area. This photo released by the Syrian o
Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon stands along awaiting to meet Russian President at Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Blach Sea resourt of Sochi, on May 17, 2013. UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Russia agreed Friday that a peace conference on Syria should be held 'as soon as possible' even as Moscow defied growing global pressure over its arms supplies to the Damascus regime. Secretary General of the United Nat
FILE - In this January 15, 2013 file photo, freed Syrian detainees gather in front of posters showing Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, and his father Hafez Assad, left, after they were released from Adra Prison on the north-east outskirts of Damascus, Syria. Syrian intelligence agents grab civilians seen as a threat to President Bashar Assad's regime, including human rights activists and lawyers, and deliver them to torture dungeons where they simply vanish. Human rights groups say thousands of Syrians have disappeared over the past two years, rivaling the numbers of victims in some of South America's FILE - In this January 15, 2013 fil
FILE - In this September 1, 2012 file photo, Syrian detainees who took part in anti-government protests sit in a courtroom before their release, in Damascus, Syria. Syrian intelligence agents grab civilians seen as a threat to President Bashar Assad's regime, including human rights activists and lawyers, and deliver them to torture dungeons where they simply vanish. Human rights groups say thousands of Syrians have disappeared over the past two years, rivaling the numbers of victims in some of South America's FILE - In this September 1, 2012 fi
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, listens to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Putin is hosting Netanyahu for talks focusing on the situation in Syria, amid concerns that Moscow could soon provide Damascus with advanced missiles. Russian President Vladimir Putin, r
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks, during a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, not pictured, in Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is dismissing suggestions that the Syrian government might not join a U.S.-Russia initiative to negotiate a peaceful transition in Syria. Syria's information minister says Damascus needs more details about the proposed initiative before it decides whether to attend. But Kerry says he expects Syrian officials to join the international effort and that the U.S. is aware that Syrian negotiators have been selected for the proposed conference. Kerry made his comments during a trip to Sweden Tuesday. Washington and Moscow which are on opposite sides of the Syrian conflict called last week for an international conference to start talks that would be accompanied by a cease-fire in the two-year-old war. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
Russia's President Vladimir Putin waits for the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before their meeting at Putin's residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, on May 14, 2013. Putin and Netanyahu began talks today on the conflict in Syria amid growing concern about Moscow's continuing arms deliveries to the Damascus regime and a spiralling death toll. Russia's President Vladimir Putin w
Syrian refugees Mohammad Nuh, 75, and his grandson Amr Nuh, 21, sit in their living room during an interview with Reuters in the town of Reyhanli of Hatay province, near the Turkish-Syrian border May 13, 2013. Syrian refugees in Turkey say they fear a backlash after car bombings that killed 50 people and wounded many others over the weekend in Reyhanli. Turkey is home to some 400,000 refugees from the two-year civil war in Syria. The bombings have increased fears that Syria's civil war is dragging in neighbouring states, despite renewed diplomatic moves to end it. Damascus has denied Turkish allegations it was involved in the blasts. Syrian refugees Mohammad Nuh, 75, a
This citizen journalism image provided by Lens Young Homsi, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows buildings which were destroyed from Syrian forces shelling, in Homs province, Syria, Monday, May 13, 2013. Syrian troops have taken full control of a town near the highway linking the capital Damascus with Jordan, a new advance in the regime's campaign to drive rebels from the strategic south, an activist group said Monday. This citizen journalism image provi
In this Sunday, May 12, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Union of Homs Districts which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows anti-Syrian regime protesters holding a banner in the remains of a building, during a demonstration at Kafr Nabil, in Idlib province, northern Syria. Syrian troops have reportedly taken full control of a town near the highway linking the capital Damascus with Jordan, a new advance in the regime's campaign to drive rebels from the strategic south, an activist group said Monday. In this Sunday, May 12, 2013 citize
Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu (C) check the scene of the bombing, on May 13, 2013, at Reyhanli in Hatay, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. Turkey recovered on May 13 the bodies of two more people killed in the twin bombings near the Syrian border town of Reyhanli, pushing up the death toll to 48 as many others remained missing. The bodies were found in a sewer near the blast zones in the southeastern border town two days after twin car bombings which Ankara blamed on a radical Marxist group affiliated with the Damascus regime. Turkey's main opposition Republican
CORRECTING INFO People carry on May 13, 2013 the coffin of the two last victims of the May 11, 2013 bomb blast at Reyhanli in Hatay, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. Turkey recovered on May 13 the bodies of two more people killed in the twin bombings near the Syrian border town of Reyhanli, pushing up the death toll to 48 as many others remained missing. The bodies were found in a sewer near the blast zones in the southeastern border town two days after twin car bombings which Ankara blamed on a radical Marxist group affiliated with the Damascus regime. CORRECTING INFO People carry on May
A view shows the damage of a house after mortar bombs landed on the Mezze area in Damascus May 12, 2013, wounding a number of citizens, state media said, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA. SANA/Handout via Reuters (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. A view shows the damage of a house
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks during an interview with the Argentine newspaper Clarin and the Argentine state news agency Telam, in Damascus, Syria on Saturday, May 18, 2013. Assad said in the interview he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war. In this photo released by the Syria
Local relatives mourn on May 12, 2013 at the graves of victims of a car bomb which went off on May 11 at Reyhanli in Hatay just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. Turkey was reeling from twin car bomb attacks which left at least 43 people dead in a town near the Syrian border, with Ankara blaming pro-Damascus groups and vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. A Syrian minister denied on May 12 accusations that Damascus was behind a bomb attack in a Turkish town that left dozens dead, a day after Ankara blamed supporters of President Bashar al-Assad for the blasts. Local relatives mourn on May 12, 20
People sift through debris on May 12, 2013 after a car bomb explosion went off on May 11 in Reyhanli in Hatay, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. Turkey was reeling from twin car bomb attacks which left at least 43 people dead in a town near the Syrian border, with Ankara blaming pro-Damascus groups and vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. People sift through debris on May 1
A man smokes as he walks through the debris of a damaged building on May 12, 2013 on a street hit by a car bomb explosion which went off on May 11 in Reyhanli in Hatay, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. Turkey was reeling from twin car bomb attacks which left at least 43 people dead in a town near the Syrian border, with Ankara blaming pro-Damascus groups and vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. A man smokes as he walks through th
Women cry as they search on May 12, 2013 for their reletives in the debris on a street damaged by a car bomb explosion which went off on May 11 in Reyhanli in Hatay, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. Turkey was reeling from twin car bomb attacks which left at least 43 people dead in a town near the Syrian border, with Ankara blaming pro-Damascus groups and vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. Women cry as they search on May 12,
Picture taken from the window of a damaged building shows officers working on May 12, 2013 on a street damaged by a car bomb explosion which went off on May 11 in Reyhanli in Hatay, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria. Turkey was reeling from twin car bomb attacks which left at least 43 people dead in a town near the Syrian border, with Ankara blaming pro-Damascus groups and vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. Picture taken from the window of a
People stand on the site of a car bomb explosion on May 11, 2013 near the town hall of Reyhanli, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria, killing 18 people in one of the deadliest recent attacks in the volatile area. Two explosive-laden cars blew up in a small Turkish town near the volatile border with Syria on Saturday. The attacks in the town of Reyhanli, just a few kilometres from the main border crossing into Syria, come amid increasingly bellicose criticism by Ankara of the regime in Damascus. People stand on the site of a car b