video transcript

Amateur video purports to show government forces bombarding the city of Deraa on Sunday. Syria's civil war continues to gain momentum with casualties mounting on both sides. Latest reports from the UK- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed 20 rebel fighters were killed in an air strike in Idlib whilst 50 Syrian pro-Assad security forces are said to have died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Hama. These reports and videos cannot be independently verified. Syria's fragmented and factional opposition is now trying to create a unified front, with international backing, at a meeting in Doha to better their chances of ending more than a year of bloody conflict. In Damascus, Syria's foreign minister, Faisal Miqdad, dismissed the Doha talks as more laughable foreign meddling in Syrian affairs. Russia, which also opposes what it calls foreign interference in the Syria crisis, endorsed on Monday an Egyptian talks initiative that would include three opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - together with Iran - a staunch ally of Syria. Lavrov was speaking at a news conference with Egyptian counterpart Kamel Amr who said Cairo wants all Syrian factions of the opposition, in and out of Syria, to unify under one banner.