Syrian opposition pins hopes on new UN envoy

DAMASCUS - As violence raged on Tuesday in several Syrian cities, a leading opposition party inside the country pinned its hopes on the new UN special envoy to bring in a solution to the prolonged, intractable crisis.

Syria's state media said Tuesday the army troops are "hardly hitting" the armed insurgent groups' in several areas of the northern Aleppo province, as activists reported shelling and clashes in a number of Syrian cities.

The state-run SANA news agency said the armed forces are hardly hitting the "mercenary terrorists" in a number of neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo "in a continued process to eliminate the armed terrorist groups in the province."

The government army clashed Tuesday with armed insurgents in Abbart Bolis and al-Haddadeh areas in Aleppo, said SANA, adding that scores of armed men were arrested or killed.

SANA also reported that the military engineering units dismantled an improvised explosive device planted by armed men at al-Hatab Square in al-Jdeida area in Aleppo, and added that the government troops clashed with the armed men in the same area, killing three gunmen.

In a separate clash, according to SANA, an army unit fought with armed groups in the area of Bustan al-Basha, killing most of the group members, while some others were injured.

It also reported several clashes in other areas in Aleppo, Hama, Daraa and Homs provinces.

Meanwhile, the opposition's Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a young man was killed by a bombardment in the city of al-Boukamal in eastern Deir al-Zour province, adding that violent clashes are also taking place in the city.

In Aleppo, a civilian was killed by a bombardment in the Bab al- Hadeed neighborhood, said the observatory, adding that the neighborhoods of Bustan al-Qasr and al-Sakhour have also been bombarded, and violent clashes occurred between government forces and rebel fighters in the Salahuddien neighborhood.

In the countryside of Damascus, dozens of bodies were found in a basement near a main road of Mu'adamiyat al-Sham district, the observatory said, adding that the bombardment on the area is continuing and many people have reportedly been killed or wounded during a funeral procession in the conflict-ridden area.

The observatory put the death toll of Tuesday's violence at 70, 49 of whom were unarmed civilians. It said the overall toll also includes seven rebel fighters and at least 13 members of the government forces.

The observatory also reported violence elsewhere in Syria. Yet their report could not be independently checked.

The 17-month-old unrest in Syria is growing more militarized and grave as fights have taken in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and commercial hub, as well as suburbs and in some cases areas inside the capital Damascus.

As the fighting continues with no sign of abatement, a Syrian oppositional party, Building Syria's State, said Tuesday that it welcomes the appointment of Lakhdar Brahimi as the new UN special envoy to Syria, pledging to cooperate with him in order to make his mission a success and to push the country towards "a real transition to a democratic state".

In a statement sent to Xinhua Tuesday, the party said armed conflict does not serve its goals in achieving public freedom and legitimate rights of all Syrians, but "will contribute in fragmenting the social structure of the Syrian society".

It said lessons should be learnt from the failure of former UN special envoy Kofi Annan and his team, and called on all concerned countries to curb the disputes on the Syrian political arena "that only cause more casualties and further deepen the crisis".

It urged all the "democratic forces" in Syria to shoulder their responsibilities for the "community destruction" in the country and to support the mission of Brahimi "in action, not only in talks."

The party also warned the Syrian authority against proceeding with "pretending to support the endeavors to solve the crisis peacefully," and urged it to response to Brahimi's mission through forming a security and political body to represent the leadership in negotiations with Brahimi aside from the foreign ministry.

A team of experts should also be formed by Brahimi to mediate between the conflicting sides, and this team should be permanently based in Syria to communicate with all the players in the Syrian political landscape, the party said.