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Major powers urge Assad to commit to peace

Major powers urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to commit to peace and step down as they held talks in neighbouring Jordan on Wednesday on preparations for a Russian-US proposed peace conference. Ahead of the meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Amman, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Assad to make a "commitment to find peace" after more than two years of conflict that have killed more than 90,000 people.

Syria to decide soon on peace talk participation: minister

By Steve Gutterman MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government will decide soon whether to take part in peace talks with the opposition, a senior Syrian diplomat said after talks in Moscow. Asked whether Damascus had committed to joint Russian-U.S. efforts to hold a peace conference, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said: "We are still discussing these questions."

Major powers urge Assad to commit to peace

Major powers urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday to commit to peace and step down as they gathered in neighbouring Jordan to discuss preparations for a Russian- and US-proposed peace conference. Ahead of a meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Amman, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Assad to make a "commitment to find peace" after more than two years of conflict that have killed more than 94,000 people.

Syria's reaction to proposed peace talks 'constructive'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday hailed the Syrian regime's "constructive reaction" to a proposed peace conference on ending the bloodshed in the war-torn country, as he welcomed Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad in Moscow. "We value the constructive reaction by the Syrian leadership to the offer" of holding such an international event, Lavrov said.

Syrian foes move towards talks but fighting rages

By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's opposition and the government of President Bashar al-Assad seem to be preparing to take part in an international peace conference against a background of some of the worst fighting this year. On Tuesday, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Syrian soldiers, backed by air strikes and artillery, renewed an offensive aimed at driving Syrian rebels from the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border, opposition activists said.

Thirty Hezbollah fighters killed in Syrian town: activists

AMMAN (Reuters) - About 30 fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were killed in heavy fighting with rebels in the town of Qusair, Syrian activists said on Monday. Opposition sources and state media gave sharply differing accounts of the outcome of Sunday's ferocious battles in the town, long used by rebels as a supply route from the nearby Lebanese border to the provincial capital Homs.

Assad insists he will not quit, car bomb hits Damascus

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad insisted he will not resign before the end of his mandate in 2014 as a car bomb exploded in the capital Damascus on Saturday killing at least three people. "To resign would be to flee," Assad said in an interview with the Argentine newspaper Clarin when asked if he would consider stepping aside as called for by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

UN, Russia call for urgent Syria conference

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. Ban met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ahead of talks later Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin about an impending international meeting on Syria that should include representatives of the two warring parties for the first time.

Turkey arrests prime suspect over car bombings

Turkey has arrested one of the prime suspects responsible for the twin car bombings that killed at least 51 people in a city near the Syrian border, said the city's governor on Friday. "We captured one of the chief actors involved in the incident at 11:40 pm last night," said Celalettin Lekesiz, governor of southeastern Turkey's Hatay city where the bombs went off. "There are still two other major suspects at large," he added in televised remarks.

Obama and Erdogan meet as Syrian war rages

President Barack Obama met Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday as world leaders scramble to find a way to ease Bashar al-Assad from power and end Syria's bloody civil war. The talks came a day before another key player in the drama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, was to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and after UN members voted to condemn an "escalation" by Assad's forces.
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