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Prospects for a Syria peace conference in Geneva next month looks dim: Key opposition leaders, including the so called SNC have rejected efforts by Western and Arab powers to persuade them to attend. In this debate we\'ll discuss the fractured opposition and why even the coalition of countries are also fractured, in particular, Saudi Arabia, who is at loggerheads with the US policies regarding Syria. This is while Assad forces continue to advance against the insurgents in the country.

Lebanon\'s foreign minister says the Arab League made a big mistake by expelling Syria from the bloc. Adnan Mansour has told Press TV that the regional body can not deal with armed groups. In the exclusive interview, Mansour expressed hope that the Geneva Two Conference slated for November 23 and 24 could lead to a political solution to end the violence in Syria.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says political solution is the only way to put an end to violence in Syria. Rouhani also said the international community has reached the conclusion that military intervention is not a solution to the Syrian crisis, and THAT is a good sign. He made the remarks during a meeting with the visiting UN-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria. Lakhdar Brahimi for his part said that he always defends Iran\'s participation in the Geneva 2 talks. The UN-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria said yesterday that Iran\'s participation in the Geneva talks is QUOTE natural, necessary, and fruitful. Brahimi\'s visit to Tehran is part of his Middle East tour to lobby support for the meeting. The Geneva talks has been slated for November 23rd and 24th, to find a political solution to the Syrian conflict.

The Syrian leader has met with the UN-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria, on the third day of his visit to the country. The meeting was aimed at paving the way for the Geneva-2 conference on Syria.

An unnamed US government official says israeli warplanes have launched an airstrike on Syria. The US administration claims the target of the attack was a shipment of missiles at a military base near the city of Latakia. Israeli authorities have not commented on the claim yet. There\'s still no word on possible casualties from the attack. Israel has carried out strikes on Syria several times this year. Damascus has said the attacks are aimed at helping insurgents fighting the government.

The UN, Arab League special envoy for Syria is in Lebanon for talks with high-ranking Lebanese officials. Lebanon is said to have paid the heaviest price so far as a result of the war in neighboring Syria and is now hoping that the Geneva 2 Conference will be held soon to pave the way for a political solution to the crisis.

Turkey says it\'s seized a large quantity of chemicals on its border with Syria. Authorities say the chemicals could be transformed into weapons. The Turkish army says a convoy of three vehicles attempted to smuggle the chemicals across the border. The army managed to arrest one of the passengers of the vehicles near the town of Reyhanli. The rest of the suspects fled in the direction of Syria. The army says a large amount of sulphur was part of the chemical haul. Our correspondent in Turkey says the army also seized a shipment of chemicals at the Iskenderun port in Hatay province.

Turkish police have used water cannons and smoke grenades against Kurdish protesters angry at Ankara\'s plans to erect a wall near the border with Syria. The clashes took place in the south-eastern Kurdish town of Jizre. Kurdish protesters say the wall divides them from family members on the Syrian side of the border. Turkey began the construction of the wall last month in Nusaybin, a border district north of the Syrian town of Qamishli. Ankara says it\'s concerned with the spillover of violence from northern Syria. However, the Turkish government is a staunch supporter of insurgents in Syria providing them with arms, training and shelter.

The Syrian information minister says Saudi Arabia is responsible for death and destruction throughout the Muslim world today -- including in Syria. Omran al-Zoubi made the remarks in a television interview, in which he advised Riyadh to halt its policy of terrorism against Syria and other regional countries, such as Iraq, Lebanon, and Algeria. He had particularly scathing criticism of the Saudi foreign minister, saying Saud al-Faisal has always driven Saudi policy toward failure. The comments came after a meeting between Faisal and his U-S counterpart, John Kerry. During the meeting on Monday, the Saudi official reportedly lamented the international community\'s inaction on the Syrian crisis, particularly the U-S decision not to intervene militarily. Syria has long accused Saudi Arabia of being one of the main regional patrons of the foreign-backed militants, which provides military and financial support to them.

Reports from Syria say four British insurgents fighting alongside other foreign-backed militants have been killed in clashes with army troops. Three of the British insurgents were from London and died in August when their group attacked Syrian soldiers. The fourth militant was shot dead two weeks later in a failed ambush. The men were reportedly from a group of English insurgents working with al-Qaeda-linked militants. The UK\'s intelligence agency, the MI5, has said that up to 300 British insurgents are fighting government forces in Syria.

Reports from Syria say four British insurgents fighting alongside other foreign-backed militants have been killed in clashes with army troops. Three of the British insurgents were from London and died in August when their group attacked Syrian soldiers. The fourth militant was shot dead two weeks later in a failed ambush. The men were reportedly from a group of English insurgents working with al-Qaeda-linked militants. The UK\'s intelligence agency, the M-I-5, has said that up to 3-hundred British insurgents are fighting government forces in Syria.

U-S, Russian, and U-N envoys are scheduled to hold a meeting in Geneva on Monday to agree on a date for an international c on Syria. A U-N spokesman said United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should announce a date. It would be the first gathering to bring the government and rebels together. U-N-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi and U-N, Russian, and U-S envoys will be attending Monday\'s meeting. Whether Iran and other key players, such as Saudi Arabia, will be invited will also be discussed on Monday. A U-N diplomat said the international conference on Syria may be held in January, but the date will be announced after the talks. The U-N says the 32-month Syria conflict has left over 100-thousand people dead.

In Syria, at least two people have been killed in insurgent shelling of the city of Idlib. At least five mortar shells landed near a university in the northwestern city. One of the victims was a student and the other a passerby. At least 17 others were also injured in the attack. Mortar attacks are the hallmark of insurgents in Syria. Only on Monday, about a dozen people were killed in a mortar attack on a government stronghold in the northern city of Aleppo.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons continues its joint mission with the UN to destroy Syria\'s chemical arsenal. The Special Coordinator of the mission says her team\'s made progress in destroying the chemicals. Kaag also says the mission requires support by the international community in terms of packaging material and other logistic needs. She added that the security situation in the country has forced the mission to plan for possible contingencies. Kaag also praised the cooperation of the Syrian government, calling it constructive. The UN has set June 2014 as the deadline for the dismantlement of Syria\'s entire chemical weapons stockpile.

The UK police express worries about the future home-coming of British militants fighting alongside insurgents in Syria. The head of New Scotland Yard\'s counter-terrorism command says the prospect of battle-hardened extremists returning to Britain with sophisticated training and practical experience has become a grave concern in recent months. Richard Walton also says there are already signs that British militants are coming back from Syria with orders to carry out attacks. According to intelligence sources, British extremists make up the biggest chunk of hundreds of Western militants fighting the Syrian government. This, as France and Australia each have about 2-hundred citizens fighting in Syria, with others coming from countries like the United States and Canada.

The UK police express worries about the future home-coming of British militants fighting alongside insurgents in Syria. The head of New Scotland Yard\'s counter-terrorism command says the prospect of battle-hardened extremists returning to Britain with sophisticated training and practical experience has become a grave concern in recent months. Richard Walton also says there are already signs that British militants are coming back from Syria with orders to carry out attacks. According to intelligence sources, British extremists make up the biggest chunk of hundreds of Western militants fighting the Syrian government. This, as France and Australia each have about 2-hundred citizens fighting in Syria, with others coming from countries like the United States and Canada.

he United Nations Security Council has held a meeting to discuss the destruction of Syria\'s chemical weapons. The meeting comes as the world\'s chemical weapons watchdog prepares to ship Syria\'s chemical arms stockpile out of the country at the beginning of 2014.

Another act of atrocity at the hands of foreign-backed insurgents in Syria. Militants execute an Iraqi cameraman in Syria\'s northeast. Reports say Yasser Faysal al-Joumaili was killed in Idlib province after insurgents stopped him at a checkpoint and shot him without asking any questions. The militants are said to be members of the notorious al-Qaeda-linked group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The slain reporter of Al-Jazeera International and Reuters was on an assignment for a Spanish media outlet. Many journalists have lost their lives in the Syrian conflict which began in 20-11.

The UN secretary-general has deplored the use of chemical weapons in Syria and has called on the international community to sanction those responsible for the chemical attacks. Ban Ki-moon\'s statement came a day after a UN report concluded that banned chemical weapons were used at least five times before Damascus agreed to dismantle its arsenal. However, the report did not lay blame for the attacks. The report said evidence indicated chemical weapons were probably used in Khan al-Assal outside Aleppo on March 19 against soldiers and civilians. The government and opposition accused each other of using chemical weapons at Khan al-Assal, and the report said none of the parties in Syria denied their use in the village. Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, who led the UN investigation team that compiled the report, reminded reporters that the mandate did not allow him to point the finger at anyone.

Russia has repeated its allegations that foreign-backed insurgents in Syria were behind the chemical weapons attacks in the country. Russia\'s UN ambassador says the US has provided no proof that the Syrian government was involved in the attacks. Vitaly Churkin said that the claims that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attacks are not persuasive. He added that Moscow views last August\'s deadly sarin gas attack outside Damascus as a provocation by the militants. The remarks came after a closed-door meeting on a UN investigation into the chemical weapons attacks in Syria. At the meeting, Russia and Western nations remained at loggerheads over who is to blame for the attacks. But UN experts recently said they have credible information that chemical weapons were used against the Syrian army and civilians. However, the U-N report has not determined whether the Syrian government or foreign-backed insurgents were responsible for the attacks.

Russia has repeated its allegations that foreign-backed insurgents in Syria were behind the chemical weapons attacks in the country. Russia\'s UN ambassador says the US has provided no proof that the Syrian government was involved in the attacks. Vitaly Churkin said that the claims that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attacks are not persuasive. He added that Moscow views last August\'s deadly sarin gas attack outside Damascus as a provocation by the militants. The remarks came after a closed-door meeting on a UN investigation into the chemical weapons attacks in Syria. At the meeting, Russia and Western nations remained at loggerheads over who is to blame for the attacks. But UN experts recently said they have credible information that chemical weapons were used against the Syrian army and civilians. However, the UN report has not determined whether the Syrian government or foreign-backed insurgents were responsible for the attacks.

Terrorist attacks continue to kill people in Syria. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said in a report that the conflict has left half a million people woudned. The recent defeats suffered by foreign-backed insurgents have apparently prompted their western supporters to try and end the deadlock in syria through diplomacy. But are they serious about ending the war in the first place? We have this report.

Terrorist attacks continue to kill people in Syria. The International Committee of the Red Cross has said in a report that the conflict has left half a million people wounded. The recent defeats suffered by foreign-backed insurgents have apparently prompted their western supporters to try and end the deadlock in syria through diplomacy. But are they serious about ending the war in the first place?

The United Nations says one out of five people living in Lebanon are refugees who have fled the conflict in neighboring Syria. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced the number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has surpassed the eight hundred and 48 thousand mark. The Office of the UNHCR also said about seven hundred and 93 thousand have registered as refugees. The Lebanese authorities say the exact number could be even higher since many of the Syrian refugees are unregistered and undocumented migrants. Lebanon has refused to set up official camps for refugees from Syria. Many live in hundreds of unofficial tent settlements on its northern and eastern peripheries. Lebanon currently hosts the highest number of refugees from Syria. More than a million other Syrians have fled to Jordan and Turkey.

Infighting between rival insurgent groups is raging on in Syria. Opposition sources say that foreign-backed militants have seized the headquarters of al-Qaeda-linked insurgents in the northern city of Aleppo. The sources added that members from several insurgent groups have taken control of a children\'s hospital in Qadi Askar district that is the headquarters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Aleppo. Meanwhile, other reports from Syria say at least 20 militants have been killed in a car bomb near the northern city of Dakoush. The attack was reportedly carried out by militants from the I-S-I-L. The recent tension among militant groups fighting the Syrian government has been the deadliest since the conflict began in the war-torn country back in March 20-11.

Tunisian activists have demonstrated near the Foreign Affairs Ministry to demand the resumption of diplomatic ties with Syria. During the rally, Syrian refugees denounced the war and said that some Arab countries want to destroy Syria for the sake of Israel. Protesters praised the efforts of the resistance in backing Syria against Israeli agents. Many observers say the Syrian unrest will end soon as government forces there have so far been successful in dealing with foreign-backed terrorist groups.

Insurgents in Syria have expressed doubt about the implementation of a new deal reached at the Geneva peace conference, under which the government has agreed to let women and children leave besieged districts of the city of Homs. Insurgents operating in the city have called for a complete end to the siege of the areas, which have been under a blockade since June 20-12. They also say they want guarantees from the UN or the International Committee of the Red Cross that the people leaving the areas will not be arrested by Syrian forces. Earlier, UN and Arab League special envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said Damascus has agreed to let women and children leave the areas. The agreement was reached on the third day of the peace talks between the Syrian government and the foreign-backed opposition in Geneva.

In Syria, Palestinian refugees at the Yarmouk camp on the outskirts of the capital Damascus are faced with starvation. Reports from the camp say people have started hunting cats, dogs and donkeys. This is while foreign-backed insurgents are still holed up inside, and government forces keep fighting to force them out. Reports say seventy-eight people, including 25 women and three children, have died as a result of food shortage there. Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed insurgency for nearly three years now.