THE AUSTRALIAN
From: AFP October 15, 2012 12:00AM
Fighting has raged between troops and rebels in Syria amid rising tensions between Damascus and Turkey. Source: AP
FIGHTING raged between troops and rebels in Syria as Damascus ratcheted up the tension with Ankara by banning all Turkish passenger flights from Syrian airspace yesterday.
The move came after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sharply criticised the UN Security Council for its failure to agree on decisive steps to end Syria's civil war, as NATO ally Germany backed the Turkish interception of a Damascus-bound passenger jet last week.
Rebels and activists said yesterday that a Syrian regime warplane was shot down near Aleppo, while part of the embattled northern city's historic Ummayad mosque was set ablaze in fighting as rebels attacked army positions inside, monitors said.
And a car-bomb blast near Damascus killed eight people, including a child and two women, in Al-Nabak on the road to Homs province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
More than 33,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule erupted in March last year. Hundreds of thousands more have fled their homes.
As the fighting on the ground escalated, so did the tension with Turkey. Syria banned Turkish passenger flights from midnight Saturday (8am yesterday, AEST), state news agency SANA said, citing the Foreign Ministry.
The suspension came after Turkey and Syria had engaged in sporadic cross-border shelling.
The decision was in retaliation at Turkey's decision to stop Syrian civil aviation flights over its territory, SANA said.
The Turkish government has not announced a similar ban for Syrian civilian aircraft. However, Turkish jets forced a Syrian passenger plane en route from Moscow to Damascus to make an emergency landing in Ankara on Wednesday on suspicion it was carrying weapons.
Damascus and Moscow denied the claim, and the plane was allowed on Friday to continue on its journey.
Mr Erdogan called for reform of the UN Security Council to help resolve the crisis, after Russia and China have repeatedly used their veto powers to block resolutions condemning Syria.
Mr Erdogan described the Security Council as "unequal, unfair system".
"It's time to change the structure of international institutions, starting with the UN Security Council," he said, calling for "wider, fairer and more effective representation". He added: "If we wait for one or two of the permanent members ... then the future of Syria will be in danger."
In Istanbul, Mr Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held talks on Syria with visiting Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, Turkish news agency Anatolia said.
With rebels controlling large swaths of the border area, several incidents of cross-border fire from Syria this month sparked retaliatory shelling by NATO member Turkey and raised concern about potential escalation.
After meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Mr Davutoglu repeated that Turkey would not tolerate any further border incidents.
"We will hit back without hesitation if we believe Turkey's national security is in danger," he said.
Mr Westerwelle reiterated Germany's support for its NATO ally while at the same time appealing for restraint.
"We are on Turkey's side but we also call on Turkey to show moderation," he said.
Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, a veteran Algerian diplomat who is the envoy of the UN and the Arab League, arrived in Istanbul from talks in Saudi Arabia.
He was due in Tehran last night for talks with Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Iranian state television channel's website reported, a day before heading for Baghdad to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. On the ground, rebels blocked army reinforcements from advancing towards the town of Maaret al-Numan, which has been under rebel control for several days.
To retake the town, strategically located in the northwest on the road from Damascus to the embattled city of Aleppo, warplanes bombarded it, killing two civilians.
In Aleppo, fierce clashes raged in and around the Umayyad mosque. Rebels entered into the complex by planting an explosive device at the southern entrance, a military source said.
Elsewhere, rebels seized a base in Deir Foul village near the rebel-held town of Rastan in Homs, said the Observatory, and another base in Damascus province.
AFP, AP
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