Syrian conflict rages on as Moscow calls for truce

Deadly clashes rocked a district of the capital near the heart of the embattled regime The armed rebel group Free Syrian Army (FSA) on Tuesday withdrew from the eastern city of Deir Ezzor after two days of clashes with regime forces. The move, which follows similar withdrawals from

Idlib and Homs, appeared
to confirm speculation that the FSA is changing tactics away from trying to occupy cities towards a guerrilla insurgency.
Russia in the meantime has added its voice to growing calls for a humanitarian truce in Syria, a move hailed by the US after deadly clashes rocked a district of the capital near the heart of the embattled regime, as fighting continuedin heavily guarded areas of Damascus.
In a statement, the foreign ministry called on the Syrian government "and all armed groups who oppose it" to agree to ceasefires "without delay," after  the  International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Jakob Kellenberger held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday.
Moscow has called for the ICRC to have access to "those detained in Syria for their participation in protests".
Lavrov also said Moscow will support a United Nations resolution endorsing peace envoy Kofi Annan's plan for settling the Syrian crisis.
Lavrov said, however, that the Security Council shouldn't interpret Annan's proposals as an ultimatum, but simply as a basis for settling the crisis.
Russia is one of President Bashar al-Assad's main remaining international allies, who twice along with China had vetoed a UN resolution at the UN Security Council.
"The most important issue for us is to ensure humanitarian ceasefires as soon as possible," Russian media quoted him as saying.
In February the ICRC, the only international agency to deploy aid workers in Syria, proposed a daily humanitarian ceasefire of two hours to allow time to evacuate the wounded and deliver food, medicine and other vital supplies.
Meanwhile, there were conflicting reports on the deployment of Russian special forces in Syria.
The Russian defence ministry denied in a statement that Russian warships were posted in Syrian regional waters. The statement said that an oil tanker has been in the Syrian port of Tartus over the past 10 days for the purpose of providing logistic services to the ships of the Black Sea fleet, and securing the Gulf of Aden against piracy attacks.
The statement said that the crew of the tanker Iman is made up of civilians and a unit that provides for its security. There are no special forces on board, it said.
The defence ministry announcement contradicts with earlier statements by a source at the Russian Navy, reported by Interfax and Russia News, about the deployment of a Russian unit of anti-terrorist marines to Tartus aboard an oil tanker. The news was confirmed to Al Arabiya by Syrian opposition forces.
Tartus is the only base used by Russia, a longtime ally of Syria’s regime, in the Mediterranean.
Overnight, the Syrian capital, Damascus, has experienced some of its heaviest fighting since the uprising began.
Witnesses said machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades were heard from the heavily guarded district of al-Mezzeh, where several security buildings are located and which has seen several large anti-government protests.
At least three rebels and a member of the security forces were killed in the Mezzeh district, state television and monitors reported.
The UN says more than 8,000 people have been killed in the uprising, while tens of thousands of people have fled their homes.
Russia has continued delivering arms to Syria, whose ties with Moscow date back to the Soviet era, and has warned Western and Arab nations against military or political interference, while expressing its support for international humanitarian aid efforts.
In a rare show of unity with Western powers, Russia and China joined other UN Security Council members on March 1 in expressing "deep disappointment" at Syria's failure to allow UN humanitarian aid chief Valerie Amos to visit the country, saying she should be let in immediately.
Amos has since been allowed to enter Syria, and has called for unhindered access for humanitarian aid.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States was heartened by Russia's public support for the ICRC ceasefire proposal.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council could be voting on Tuesday on plans for "further measures" against Syria unless Assad carried out peace proposals forwarded by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
First talks on the statement will be held on Tuesday and France's UN envoy Gerard Araud said he hoped it would be adopted the same day.
The statement calls on Assad and Syria's opposition to "implement fully and immediately" Annan's six-point peace plan. It says the council will "consider further measures" if nothing is done within seven days of any adoption.
A mission sent by former UN secretary general Annan arrived in Damascus on Monday for talks on a monitoring operation to end the conflict.
“There are five people with expertise in political, peacekeeping and mediation,” Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told AFP.
“They will be staying for as long as they are making progress on reaching agreement on practical steps to implement Mr Annan’s proposals,” he added.
The Annan proposal includes a halt to the violence, humanitarian access, the release of detainees held over the past year and withdrawal of security forces from protest cities.
As a condition for ceasefire talks, the Damascus government insisted that the opposition had to lay down its arms, diplomats at the United Nations said.
At the same time, neighbouring countries had to guarantee they would not send weapons to Syrian groups or give political or financial support to the opposition, they told AFP.
Separately, technical experts from the UN and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are taking part in a Syrian government-led mission to assess the impact of the deadly crackdown.
The mission to 15 cities, on the first such assignment in Syria since the violence started, was launched in Homs on Sunday.
Monday’s clashes in the capital came after twin car bombs ripped through two neighborhoods of Damascus on Saturday, killing 27 people, according to an interior ministry toll.
Outside of Damascus troops backed by dozens of tanks raided districts of Deir al-Zor city in eastern Syria, the Observatory said.
And troops bombarded the Bab Sbaa, Khalidiyeh and Karm al-Shami districts of Homs, the monitoring group said.
Troops in the northwestern province of Idlib attacked Abdita, home village of defector Colonel Riyadh Asaad, head of the Turkey-based rebel Free Syrian Army, local activist Nurredin al-Abdo told AFP.