Syrian Observatory for Human Rights – Many dead and wounded in Ma’arat al-Nu’man. Activists cry for help –
Idlib province: 13 civilians have been killed so far by the regime’s bombardment of Ma’arat al-Nu’man, many have been injured. Many of those earlier reported injured died because of shortage in medical equipment and due to the staff’s inability to cope with such a large influx of casualties.
These conditions will most likely lead to many more martyrs; activists and staff in the city are urgently requesting the UN monitors to head towards them, and provide the city with medical equipment and doctors to save those injured.
– 8 children killed in al-Heffa – Latakia province: The regime’s bombardment of the Bekas village, in the al-Heffa area, has killed 10 civilians, 8 were children.
– The number of civilian martyrs in Syria today (Saturday 9/6/2012), documented with name and reason of death by the SOHR, has risen to 42.
-In Homs province, 15 people were kiled:In the city of Homs 6 were killed by the bombardment of the Khaldiya neighbourhood, 2 were martyred by gunfire in the Qusoor neighbourhood. A civilian was killed by excessive torture in the town of Talbisa, 4 rebel fighters were killed during clashes in the outskirts of the town. 2 people were martyred in Rastan, one was targeted and killed while in his car, the other was killed by the regime bombardment.
-In Dera’a province 21 people were killed: 20, including 9 women and 3 children, were martyred during the regime’s heavy bombardment after midnight in the Dera’a al-Balad neighbourhood of Dera’a. The body of a regime supporter was found slain in farmland near the town of Da’el after being abducted by unknown gunmen.
-In Latakia province 4 people were martyred by the regime’s bombardment of the al-Heffa area.
-In Idlib province 1 civilian was killed. He died when the checkpoints surrounding the village of Martein, Reef Idlib, began firing shells into the village.
– In Aleppo, a man was killed in Hayan by the regime’s bombardment of the town.
-In Reef Dimashq the body of a civilian from Yabrud was given to his family, he died in the detention centre.
– At least 17 soldiers were killed during clashes in the provinces of Aleppo, Homs, Dera’a and Latakia.
– Dozens martyred in Ma’arat al-Nu’man – Idlib province: The city of Ma’arat al-Nu’man is being heavily bombarded by the Syrian forces; dozens have been injured, 8 are in a very critical condition.
Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre: DARAA (09/06/2012): At least 25 martyrs have fallen already today, mostly in Daraa where most of those killed in the overnight shelling were women and kids. Also in Daraa, there are reports of Assad’s forces using new tools including green balls which give off a gas causing what you see in this video from the town of Buser al-Harir yesterday. Similar cases were reported in Homs yesterday and today.
This is the report of the Syrian Revolution General Commission – we are unable to confirm the accuracy of the reports:
Today’s martyrs with the latest and most important developments since midday until now 9/6/2012-Death toll in Syria rose to 79 up till now, most of which fell in Homs due to violent shelling on the city. Among the martyrs were 9 women and 14 children, in addition to one martyr killed under torture in Homs and a defected soldier in Daraa.———————————–-Homs: 26 martyrs, including 2 children and 1 martyr killed under torture.-Daraa: 14 martyrs, among them 7 women and 3 children.-Lattakia: 14 martyrs, among them 9 children.-Damascus and its suburbs: 7 martyrs.-Idlib: 14 martyrs.-Daraa: 3 martyrs, among them a defected soldier.-Al Hasakeh: 1 martyr.————-http://youtu.be/1fHbYV-9xJ0http://youtu.be/1fHbYV-9xJ0http://youtu.be/1fHbYV-9xJ0http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl-g8MrmATQ&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkJm0Ffv-vg&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnRMioXPkss&feature=youtu.behttp://youtu.be/fnEl4KFBkOYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84eISUzCpnw&feature=colikehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fuuwvLQ_QA&feature=plcphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq3vPBUOCUI&feature=youtu.behttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAw1RzdFu_w&feature=plcphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO_yB-JsNPYhttp://youtu.be/ilsQ9UXsuichttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk6mCqlPpnA&feature=em-uploademailhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl-rCCmx2ZM&feature=em-uploademailhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ45fh7wLss&feature=em-uploademailhttp://youtu.be/iDrZ7XPP51chttp://youtu.be/iDrZ7XPP51chttp://youtu.be/zJkfrx8hxcMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0byhn4ZczWwhttp://youtu.be/GQC8m1cECfQhttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=457130404299957http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmuPVPEQKE0&feature=youtu.behttp://youtu.be/ImeUmSm_oTwhttp://youtu.be/Ypf9teIIXTA=================================The latest and most important developmentsHoms and its suburbs-The neighborhoods of Al-Ghouta, Al-Hamra, Al-Khaldiyeh, Jouret Alshayyah, and Alqusoor remain under violent and arbitrary shelling with various types of heavy weapons, mortars and missiles. Many homes were burned with residents inside in Jouret Alshayyah by the violent shelling, and the neighborhoods of Al-Hamra and Al-Ghouta are under siege and they continue to be shelled. In addition, a great number of security and military reinforcements enter the city of Homs with tens of pick-up trucks filled with medium machine guns, armored vehicles, and military vehicles filled with security forces and thugs and are distributed along the streets, starting at the Ministry of Education and extended several kilometers until Hama Route. The international observers refused to come to the area and see what is occurring.-Jobar: Artillery and mortar shells fell on the neighborhood, targeting homes in a violent manner. The bombing has intensified and escalated as columns of smoke fill the skies of the neighborhood and sounds of explosions from cannons are continuous.http://youtu.be/Dv1RAiJkCIk-Talbiseh: There is a true massacre happening now in Talbiseh, as the number of martyrs has reached 10 and the number of wounded are in the dozens after a field hospital was targeted and destroyed after being shelled continuously and violently with mortars and helicopters. Several homes have been destroyed and columns of smokes fill the skies from the homes. Martyrs are being buried and prayed for inside homes from fear of the intense shelling. The shelling is targeting the city and neighboring villages and towns, including Alsaen, Almukramiya, Alzaafarana, and Alfarhaniya.-One of the martyrs, Abdul-Mueen Auwayjan, was killed under torture after he was arrested yesterday at a checkpoint. His dead body was handed over today with clear signs of torture. The other martyr was killed amid the shelling after he was targeted from a helicopter as he was attempting to put out the fires on his farm.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilsQ9UXsuic&feature=youtu.be-Jouret Alshayyah: Assad forces attempted to bombard the neighborhood with tanks and armored vehicles from the side of the police headquarters after reinforcements arrived there. They shot intensely and tried to enter the neighborhood with the armored vehicles, and there is a state of panic and fear from the possibility of a massacre.-Aldar Alkabeera: Regime security forces and thugs storm the town amid intense gunfire and mortar shelling, as several mortars fell on the homes. The internet and phone lines are all cut off, and the people fear the possibility of a massacre in this town which contains many displaced families who came to the town to escape the bombing in other areas.-Rastan: Random and violent shelling on the city as a large number of military reinforcements arrive now at the engineering battalion near Rastan. Dozens of people were wounded due to the continuous violent shelling with mortars and artillery, and from helicopters onto the city. The field hospital is overflowing with the injured, and the people who remain are in a state of great fear and panic as helicopters and warplanes are contantly in the skies of the region and new military reinforcements arrive.-Alqusair: The violent shelling continues and greatly intensifies with heavy artillery and mortars, with an average of 10 shells being fire per minute in the direction of Alqusair and its surrounding villages. A large number of building and agricultural land are on fire due to the shelling, as the sounds of explosions shake the region in its entirety. The shelling has continued until now at a constant and fast rate, leading to the fall of a martyr and a large number of wounded among the people whose homes were targeted. There is a widespread electrical blackout in the city.-Alkhaldiyeh: Assad forces volenty shell the neighborhood as they attempt to bombard it from 4 sides, and the people are in fear of a great disaster and a true massacre if the regime military forces succeed in entering the neighborhood as Assad forces have surrounded the neighborhood and it is impossible for the people to flee. Regime military have taken over the hospital where the people of the neighborhood are being treated.Khaldiyeh: Ongoing shelling continues in the neighborhood until now as explosions shake the region in its entiretyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi73jHFWSbM&feature=youtu.be-Alqusair: Artillery shelling in conjunction with intense gunfire from all the checkpoints in the villages of Jousiya and Nizariya.Daraa and its suburbs-Alshaykh Miskeen: Assad forces shoot from checkpoints and armored vehicles randomly as the funeral procession of the martyr Rami Alhomsi takes place. In addition, a number of homes and cares are on fire.-Ibta’: 3 martyrs fell, among them a child, and more than 15 people were wounded after the town was stormed with tanks and armored vehicles amid intense shooting and shelling. Security forces kidnapped the wounded and waged an operation of raids and arrests that affected many children and eldery, as several homes were set on fire. The raid is reported to have begun at 6 in the morning when 10 armored vehicles and more than 25 busloads of security forces (each bus containing 30 thugs and security forces) stormed the city.-Alyaduda: The town was bombared with tanks and armored vehicles amid intense and random gunfire on homes.-Tafas: The children, old men and women of the city escape to shelters 9/6/2012http://youtu.be/2GebmHbZt28-Daraa Albalad: Observers interview the people 9/6/2012http://youtu.be/YoTmCUvtvX8-The people of Daraa demonstrate in front of the observers 9/6/2012http://youtu.be/RpqJx06m7T4-Dara Albalad: Observers interview the families of martyrshttp://youtu.be/HMYajjHZV6ILattakia and its suburbs-Assad thugs hijack 2 public buses, one headed in the direction of Duwerka and the other to Nahiyat Kansaba. Inside the buses were people from the aforementioned regions, and they were hijacked on Lattakia-Aleppo route by thugs from neighboring villages. In addition, several people were wounded, mostly women and children who are in ciritcal condition due to the violent and continuous shelling on the region, and after shells landed on homes. THe people cannot reach the wounded to rescue them due to the intense shelling.-Al-Hiffa: A true massacre occured in Al-Hiffa as more than 12 people were martyred, among them 10 children, due to the violent shelling on the village of Bakas which targeted of homes.Damascus and its suburbs-Alqaboun: A large number of military and security forces encircle the neighborhood of Alqaboun from all entrance points in preparation for bombardment, as snipers are stationed on high building in several regions of the neighborhood and on the buildings of companies in front of Alhusain mosque.Idlib and its suburbs-Maaret Alnouman: The of martyrs has reached 13 up until this moment and tens of people are wounded, including many who are in critical condition, due to the shelling on the region of Alhusari Mosque and Almaahad Alshar’ii. The shelling continues as the bodies of the martyrs and the wounded are in the streets amid the shelling that affected the mosque and many homes.
Aleppo and its suburbs-Ala’athamiya: Regime security forces and thugs shoot at demonstrators that went out from Bilal Mosque
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NOW! Lebanon
[local time] 
22:03 Two people were killed and 113 others were injured by the security forces’ shelling of Maarat al-Naaman, activists told Al-Arabiya TV.
21:39 Dozens of people were injured by the security forces’ shelling of Maarat al-Naaman, Al-Arabiya reported.
21:38 The death toll in Syria rose to 66 people killed by security forces, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying.
21:20 Twelve people, including 10 children, were killed by security forces’ gunfire in the Latakia town of Al-Haffa, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying.
21:06 The death toll in Syria reached 53 people killed by security forces, Al-Jazeera TV quoted activists as saying.
20:11 The Syrian army is trying to raid the towns of Al-Khalidyeh and Jourat as-Shiyah in Homs, Al-Arabiya TV quoted activists as saying.
19:48 About 2,000 Israeli Arabs protested on Saturday to demand that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down and to show solidarity with Syrian civilians killed by regime forces, an AFP journalist said.
17:26 Al-Arabiya TV is broadcasting live footage of a funeral procession for 20 people who were killed by security forces in the town of Daraa.
16:58 Russia said on Saturday that it would be “glad” to back a Syrian initiated ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, AFP reported.
16:47 The death toll in Syria rose to 38 people on Saturday, activists told Al-Jazeera TV.
16:35 Russia said on Saturday that denying Iran a role in Syria talks would be “thoughtless,” AFP reported.
15:51 Rebels holding Lebanese Shia pilgrims abducted last month in Syria said they will free them when a “civil state” sees the day in Syria but also left the door open to negotiations for their release, Al-Jazeera television reported Saturday.
15:35 The Syrian army is shelling several neighborhoods in Homs, Al-Jazeera reported.
15:22 Russia said on Saturday that it will not approve the use of force against Syria at the United Nations, AFP reported.
14:36 Russia on Saturday pushed its proposal for an international conference on Syria to include Iran, despite skepticism from the United States.
14:06 Leaders of the exiled Syrian National Council met in Turkey on Saturday to pick a new leader after the resignation of Burhan Ghalioun last month to avert divisions in the opposition bloc.
13:44 Syrian security forces raided Daraa’s Abtaa, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying on Saturday.
10:09 Syrian security forces prevented rescue efforts from reaching the injured in Daraa al-Balad, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying on Saturday.
9:35 UN observers who went to the Syria massacre village of Al-Kubeir saw blood on the walls and were hit by a “stench of burnt flesh” but could not confirm how many died, a spokesperson said Friday.
9:33 Saturday’s death toll in Syria rose to 25 people, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying.
9:26 Five Syrian journalists were killed in government shelling over two days as they covered the worsening conflict gripping the country, a US-based media watchdog group said Friday.
9:05 Leaders from the Syrian military opposition Friday called on the international community to provide better arms and support as they battle to topple the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
9:02 Syrian security forces shelled Sarja in Edleb, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying on Saturday.
8:00 Syrian army shelling and gunfire killed at least 28 civilians in protest hubs on Saturday, including 17 in the flashpoint city of Daraa, while three soldiers died in clashes, a monitoring group said.
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BBC: Russia ‘shuns Syria intervention’
Russia will continue to oppose military intervention in Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says, amid fresh reports of violence across the country.
Mr Lavrov also repeated calls for an international conference to implement the peace plan drawn up by UN special envoy Kofi Annan.
He said Moscow would support the departure of President Bashar al-Assad, but only if Syrians agreed to it.
Activists said at least 40 people were killed across Syria on Saturday.
They blamed the Syrian army for the deaths of at least 17 people, including women, during fighting in the southern town of Deraa.
Speaking at foreign ministry in Moscow, Mr Lavrov said that the issue of foreign intervention in Syria was being posed in a “radical and quite emotional way”.
He said foreign powers were encouraging the armed opposition to hope that “the Libyan scenario” could be repeated.
“All this is a dangerous game,” he said.
“Our position remains unchanged. We will not agree to the use of force being authorised in the UN Security Council.
“That would lead to the gravest of consequences for the whole of the Middle East.”
Plan ‘faltering’He said the intervention of “external forces” could result in a “catastrophic scenario” that would create an “arc of instability” from the Mediterranean to the Gulf.
Both Russia and China have opposed UN Security Council resolutions condemning the Syrian government for continuing violence.
Mr Lavrov acknowledged that Mr Annan’s six-point peace plan had begun to “seriously falter” but said Russia saw “no alternative”.
He said that Moscow – which has resisted US-led calls for Mr Assad to stand down – was not opposed to his departure, but only against it being imposed on Syria from outside.
“If the Syrians agree (to Mr Assad’s departure) we will only be happy to support such a solution,” Mr Lavrov said.
“But we believe it is unacceptable to impose the conditions for such a dialogue from outside.”
UN monitors in Syria are trying to oversee the implementation of a ceasefire
He also pressed Moscow’s idea of an international conference on Syria that would include Iran – an ally of Damascus.
“To say that Iran doesn’t have a place because it is already to blame for everything and it’s part of the problem… this is thoughtless to say the least from the point of view of serious diplomacy,” he said.
The US has accused Tehran of arming Syrian government forces.
The main opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC), has also voiced doubts about involving Iran in any negotiations.
The exiled SNC is currently meeting in Turkey to elect a new leader.
The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says Russia appears to be increasingly worried by events in the Middle East and feels that the international community isn’t taking note of its concerns.
Meanwhile, UN monitors inside Syria have been continuing to investigate an alleged massacre at Qubair last Wednesday.
People in the area told the UN team that everyone in the village near Hama “had died except for a few”, UN spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh told the BBC.
Activists blame militias allied to President Assad while the government accused “terrorists” of killing civilians.
Reuters: Syrian National Council elects Kurd its new leader
Sida, who has been living in exile in Sweden for many years, was the only candidate for the presidency of the SNC at a meeting of 33 members of the councils’ general secretariat.
The 56-year-old succeeds Burhan Ghalioun, a liberal opposition figure who had presided over the council since it was formed in August last year.
Sida said his priority would be to expand the council and hold talks with other opposition figures to include them in the council, which some have accused of being dominated by Islamists.
“The main task now is to reform the council and re-structure it,” Sida told Reuters.
(Reporting by Marian Karouny and Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Amman newsroom; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Russia says is not against Assad’s departure 6:52pm
Eighteen people, including 12 women and children, were killed overnight by shelling in the Syrian town of Deraa, where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 15 months ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.
Fighting was also reported in Damascus, Homs and other cities, killing 33 people overall on Saturday, the group said, showing neither side was respecting a U.N.-backed ceasefire, the failure of which has left outside powers divided on what to do next.
“We didn’t sleep all night, the situation is a mess, all kinds of explosions and heavy weapons,” said Adnan, a resident in the southwestern town of Deraa near the Jordan border.
“We could hear the blast from the rockets hitting in the neighborhood nearby. If we were afraid, you can imagine how afraid our children are,” he said via Skype.
Two massacres of civilians in the last two weeks have added urgency to talks among foreign powers on what to do since the ceasefire, supposed to take effect on April 12, has failed to stop the violence.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow – which has shielded Assad from U.N. sanctions pressure – was not opposed to his departure, but only against that outcome being imposed on Syria from outside.
“If the Syrians agree (about Assad’s departure) between each other, we will only be happy to support such a solution,” Lavrov told reporters. “But we believe it is unacceptable to impose the conditions for such a dialogue from outside.”
Lavrov was speaking one day after his deputies held consultations with U.S. special envoy Fred Hof, in Moscow to push for a transition in Syria that would see Assad leave power.
Lavrov reiterated his call for an international conference in support of the envoy Kofi Annan’s failing peace plan and said “there was no outright rejection” of this initiative from the United States expressed during the Moscow talks, despite Russia’s recommendation that Iran take part.
“We want this event to be effective. In order to be effective all the sides with any influence on the sides in the Syrian conflicts should be represented there. Iran is one such country,” Lavrov said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday it was “hard to imagine inviting a country that is stage-managing the Assad regime’s assault on its people”.
Tehran denies Washington’s accusation that it is helping the Syrian government and pro-Assad militia to put down the uprising.
SECTARIANISM
Highlighting the sectarian tensions that have grown during the conflict, rebels holding 11 Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims hostage said they would release the men when their country had established a new “civil state”, a video obtained by Al Jazeera television showed.
“The guests will be released by the Syrian civil state when their case is reviewed by a new democratic parliament,” the rebels said in a written statement on the video in which the hostages appeared, apparently in good health.
But the statement left room for negotiations, saying: “Given the current conditions it may be possible to negotiate their release with neighbouring countries.”
The hostages were on a bus that was stopped by gunmen as it crossed into northern Syria fromTurkey on its way home from a pilgrimage to Shi’ite Iran.
The revolt against Assad has been led mostly by Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority. Many say their interests have been crushed under Assad who is from a minority Alawite sect considered an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.
U.N. monitors are still working to understand what happened in the hamlet of Mazraat al-Qubeir, where opposition activists say at least 78 people were massacred on Wednesday.
The monitors saw empty homes covered in blood and smelled burnt flesh when they visited on Friday.
Armoured-vehicle tracks were visible in the vicinity and some homes were damaged by rockets from armoured vehicles, grenades and weapons ranging in caliber. Only the Syrian army has armoured vehicles and heavy weapons.
The incident happened two weeks after a massacre in the town of Houla, killing at least 108 men, women and children, which the United Nations said seemed to be the work of Syrian government forces and allied militias.
HOMS SHELLED
In the capital Damascus, once a relatively safe Assad stronghold, loud explosions were heard overnight after residents reported some the fiercest fighting between rebels and security forces a day earlier.
U.N. monitors who visited the site of fighting released a video showing shattered storefronts and six torched and blackened buses. They said some buildings appeared to have been hit by rocket propelled grenades and saw the body of a Syrian soldier on the street.
In Homs – centre of the armed insurgency where the rebellious Baba Amr district was razed by security forces in March – activists reported some of the worst shelling since then.
Some posted pictures of bullet-scarred buildings ablaze. Video uploaded by activists showed clouds of dust and flames bursting from concrete buildings as heavy blasts rocked the old city. The images could not be verified.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Evans and by Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)
Shelling kills 18 in cradle of Syrian uprising
Eighteen people, including 12 women and children, were killed overnight by shelling in the Syrian town of Deraa, where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 15 months ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.
Fighting was also reported in Damascus, Homs and other cities, killing 33 people overall on Saturday, the group said, showing neither side was respecting a U.N.-backed ceasefire, the failure of which has left outside powers divided on what to do next.
“We didn’t sleep all night, the situation is a mess, all kinds of explosions and heavy weapons,” said Adnan, a resident in the southwestern town of Deraa near the Jordan border.
“We could hear the blast from the rockets hitting in the neighborhood nearby. If we were afraid, you can imagine how afraid our children are,” he said via Skype.
Two massacres of civilians in the last two weeks have added urgency to talks among foreign powers on what to do since the ceasefire, supposed to take effect on April 12, has failed to stop the violence.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow – which has shielded Assad from U.N. sanctions pressure – was not opposed to his departure, but only against that outcome being imposed on Syria from outside.
“If the Syrians agree (about Assad’s departure) between each other, we will only be happy to support such a solution,” Lavrov told reporters. “But we believe it is unacceptable to impose the conditions for such a dialogue from outside.”
Lavrov was speaking one day after his deputies held consultations with U.S. special envoy Fred Hof, in Moscow to push for a transition in Syria that would see Assad leave power.
Lavrov reiterated his call for an international conference in support of the envoy Kofi Annan’s failing peace plan and said “there was no outright rejection” of this initiative from the United States expressed during the Moscow talks, despite Russia’s recommendation that Iran take part.
“We want this event to be effective. In order to be effective all the sides with any influence on the sides in the Syrian conflicts should be represented there. Iran is one such country,” Lavrov said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday it was “hard to imagine inviting a country that is stage-managing the Assad regime’s assault on its people”.
Tehran denies Washington’s accusation that it is helping the Syrian government and pro-Assad militia to put down the uprising.
SECTARIANISM
Highlighting the sectarian tensions that have grown during the conflict, rebels holding 11 Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims hostage said they would release the men when their country had established a new “civil state”, a video obtained by Al Jazeera television showed.
“The guests will be released by the Syrian civil state when their case is reviewed by a new democratic parliament,” the rebels said in a written statement on the video in which the hostages appeared, apparently in good health.
But the statement left room for negotiations, saying: “Given the current conditions it may be possible to negotiate their release with neighbouring countries.”
The hostages were on a bus that was stopped by gunmen as it crossed into northern Syria fromTurkey on its way home from a pilgrimage to Shi’ite Iran.
The revolt against Assad has been led mostly by Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority. Many say their interests have been crushed under Assad who is from a minority Alawite sect considered an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.
U.N. monitors are still working to understand what happened in the hamlet of Mazraat al-Qubeir, where opposition activists say at least 78 people were massacred on Wednesday.
The monitors saw empty homes covered in blood and smelled burnt flesh when they visited on Friday.
Armoured-vehicle tracks were visible in the vicinity and some homes were damaged by rockets from armoured vehicles, grenades and weapons ranging in caliber. Only the Syrian army has armoured vehicles and heavy weapons.
The incident happened two weeks after a massacre in the town of Houla, killing at least 108 men, women and children, which the United Nations said seemed to be the work of Syrian government forces and allied militias.
HOMS SHELLED
In the capital Damascus, once a relatively safe Assad stronghold, loud explosions were heard overnight after residents reported some the fiercest fighting between rebels and security forces a day earlier.
U.N. monitors who visited the site of fighting released a video showing shattered storefronts and six torched and blackened buses. They said some buildings appeared to have been hit by rocket propelled grenades and saw the body of a Syrian soldier on the street.
In Homs – centre of the armed insurgency where the rebellious Baba Amr district was razed by security forces in March – activists reported some of the worst shelling since then.
Some posted pictures of bullet-scarred buildings ablaze. Video uploaded by activists showed clouds of dust and flames bursting from concrete buildings as heavy blasts rocked the old city. The images could not be verified.
(Additional reporting by Dominic Evans and by Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Alessandra Rizzo)