Armed men kidnapped three Syrians on the road to Beirut airport on Saturday Air strikes and shelling by the Syrian Army continued Saturday with a particular focus on Aleppo as the battle for the northern and largest city in Syria continues. New footage showed burnt out tanks reportedly hit by FSA rocket propelled grenade attacks. While it appears the FSA have managed to solve their lack of heavy weapons against ground forces, their inability to challenge Assad's power in the air leaves Rebel areas subject to the constant threat of strafing by both jets and helicopters.
In a continuation of previous kidnappings in Lebanon, three Syrians were abducted by armed men near Beirut airport on Saturday according to Lebanaon's NNA news agency. A Shiite clan in the country had kidnapped over 20 Syrians in retaliation to the capture of one of their relatives by the FSA who claimed he was a Hezbollah agent working for the Syrian regime, a claim denied by his family.
The previously low-profile Syrian Vice-President released a statement after members of his family defected on Thursday and rumours spread over his attempted escape, Farouq al-Sharaa denounced such accusations on state television on Saturday. A statement from Sharaa's office read: "Farouq al-Sharaa has never thought for a moment about leaving the country." When his cousin fled to Jordan Thursday he called on the Syrian Army to also revolt against the regime.
A United Nations spokeswoman says the last UN observers still in Syria have started to leave the country as their mission officially ends at midnight Sunday.
Juliette Touma tells The Associated Press that the rest of the observers will leave within hours. There are about 100 observers left in Syria - a
third of the number at the peak of the mission earlier this year.
Their departure comes after the Security Council agreed to end the UN mission and back a small new liaison office that will support any future peace efforts.
The UN's top body has acknowledged that international efforts to significantly reduce the violence and end the Syrian government's use of heavy weapons, a condition set for the mission's possible extension, have failed.
"China will support and cooperate positively with Mr Brahimi's efforts at political mediation," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Beijing, a traditional Damascus ally, differs with the West on how to handle the conflict in Syria, and along with Moscow has vetoed Security Council resolutions on the issue, putting it at odds with Washington and London.
China described Brahimi, an Algerian, as a man with "rich diplomatic experience and the right person to take the position".
It said it hoped he "could stick to the direction of solving Syrian issues politically" and seek "a peaceful, fair and proper settlement", as well as a ceasefire among all parties to end the violence "as soon as possible".
The United Nations named Brahimi to the sensitive post on Friday, with efforts to end the fighting in the Middle Eastern country unsuccessful so far, partly due to the differences among UN Security Council permanent members.
Beijing has repeatedly called for political dialogue and efforts by the UN to resolve the crisis.