Witnesses said the defectors had been downed by machine gun fire as they attempted to leave and join the uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria asked for some amendments to the protocol to protect its sovereignty, Syria's foreign minister said, but promised that observers would be allowed to move freely under the protection of the Syrian government—with the exception of military sites.
Panetta's visit follows a United Nations decision on Friday to lift sanctions on Libya's central bank and its investments subsidiary, releasing tens of billions of dollars to the National Transitional Council.
Ole Solvang, a Human Rights Watch researcher involved in the report, told Radio France Internationale that while the group had reached these conclusions before, the new evidence goes a step further.
ISTANBUL — From their new base in Turkey, Syria's rebel government, works toward greater legitimacy as the voice of the Syrian people and international recognition.
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