Syrian opposition fails to overcome differences

DAMASCUS - Violence and clashes continued Saturday in several hotspots across Syria between government troops and armed opposition militias, at a time the Syrian opposition has failed again to pull itself together and announced Saturday the indefinite postponement of the long-awaited National Conference for Rescuing Syria due to disagreements among different opposition parties.

Syria's state-run SANA news agency said government troops carried out several operations in the battered city of Aleppo in northern Syria on Saturday, adding that heavy toll had been inflicted on the armed opposition fighters, which the government- run media refers to as "terrorists".

A view of damaged shops and buildings at the commercial district of Homs city center, Sept 22, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

SANA said the army undertook two qualitative operations against "terrorists" near Dar al-Shafaa and al-Bayan Hospital at al-Shaar area in the city of Aleppo, inflicting hefty losses upon them.

It said the forces also destroyed 40 cars equipped with DSHK machineguns and killed all the "terrorists" inside them on al- Atareb-Oroum al-Soughra highway in Aleppo, adding that scores of armed militias had also been killed in an army operation at Bustan al-Basha area in the same restive city.

SANA also reported army operations in the central province of Homs and elsewhere on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a Syrian military source denied news circulated earlier in the day that a warplane was downed by rebels at al- Atareb area in Aleppo, noting that the media outlets that disseminated such reports are "partners in shedding the Syrian blood," according to pro-government media reports.

In separate accounts, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the violence on Saturday killed as many as 136 Syrians, 80 of whom were unarmed civilians.

The Observatory's toll also includes 20 rebel fighters and 32 regular soldiers.

It reported clashes and government troops' shelling on a number of restive areas nationwide as part of the daily grind of violence. Still, the activists' toll was impossible of being verified independently.

As violence drags on unabatedly, the Syrian opposition has failed again to put its differences aside in order to unite in the face of President Bashar al-Assad's administration.

A total of 28 Syrian opposition groups and parties announced Saturday the indefinite postponement of the long-awaited National Conference for Rescuing Syria, which was originally slated for September 23.

A statement issued on Saturday by 28 opposition groups at a press conference in the Syrian capital of Damascus said the conference has been delayed "to avoid any step that might lead to strengthening the division of the national opposition and prolonging the Syrian crisis and its high costs on our people and homeland."

Civilians walk past damaged shops and buildings at the commercial district of Homs city center, Sept 22, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

The National Conference for Rescuing Syria was called for by the oppositional National Coordination Body (NCB) and more other 20 opposition parties and groups.

Barwin Ibrahim, an opposition figure, said during the press conference that one of the main reasons behind the postponement is some differences between various opposition parties and the NCB regarding the vision and basics put forward by the NCB.

She said the NCB declared that it is against the militarization of the crisis while at the same time recognizes the rebels' Free Syrian Army.

Barwin also criticized the NCB for blaming only the Syrian government army for the violence in Syria without assigning blame on the armed rebels and the parties that are committing terrorism in the country.

"If the Syrian troops went back to their barracks, will the National Coordination Body be able to stop the Free Syrian Army?" Barwin questioned.

The postponement may further deepen the crack among fractured opposition parties and thus, prolonging the crisis despite numerous international endeavors.