AMMAN (Reuters) – The killing of a senior Islamist rebel commander near Syria’s border with Turkey could indicate a turf war between armed groups that will hamper their struggle to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, sources told Reuters.

Thaer al-Waqqas, northern commander of al-Farouq Brigades, one of Syria’s largest rebel groups, was shot dead at a rebel-held position in the town of Sermin, a few kilometers from Turkey, early on Wednesday morning, rebel sources said.

AMMAN/GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 60,000 people have died in Syria’s uprising and civil war, the United Nations said on Wednesday, dramatically raising the death toll in a struggle that shows no sign of ending.

In the latest violence, dozens were killed in a rebellious Damascus suburb when a government air strike turned a petrol station into an inferno, incinerating drivers who had rushed there for a rare chance to fill their tanks, activists said.

AMMAN/GENEVA, Jan 2 (Reuters) – More than 60,000 people have
died in the Syrian uprising and civil war, the United Nations
said on Wednesday, dramatically raising the death toll in a
struggle that shows no sign of ending.

Dozens were killed in a Damascus suburb when a government
air strike turned a petrol station into an inferno,
incinerating drivers who had rushed there for a rare chance to
fill their tanks, activists said.

AMMAN, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Elite Syrian government troops
backed by tanks battled on Monday to recapture a strategic
Damascus suburb from rebels who have advanced within striking
distance of the centre of Syria’s capital.

Five people, including a child, died from army rocket fire
that hit the Daraya suburb during the fighting, opposition
activists said. Daraya is part of a semi-circle of Sunni Muslim
suburbs south of the capital that have been at the forefront of
the 21-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.

AMMAN (Reuters) – Having seen its star wane in Iraq, al Qaeda has staged a comeback in neighbouring Syria, posing a dilemma for the opposition fighting to remove President Bashar al-Assad and making the West balk at military backing for the revolt.

The rise of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, al-Nusra Front, which the United States designated a terrorist organisation last week, could usher in a long and deadly confrontation with the West, and perhaps Israel.

MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) – The Syrian people no longer need the intervention of international forces as rebels push towards the heart of the capital of Damascus to topple President Bashar al-Assad, the new leader of Syria’s opposition told Reuters.

Mouaz al-Khatib, the scion of a Damascene Muslim religious dynasty, said the opposition would consider proposals from Assad to surrender power and leave the country, but would not give any assurances until it saw a firm proposal.

MARRAKECH, Morocco, Dec 12 (Reuters) – The leader of Syria’s
opposition coalition urged the United States on Wednesday to
review its decision to designate the militant Islamist Jabhat
al-Nusra as a terrorist group, saying religion was a legitimate
motive for Syrian rebels.

“The decision to consider a party that is fighting the
regime as a terrorist party needs to be reviewed,” Mouaz
Alkhatib told a “Friends of Syria” meeting in Morocco, where
Western and Arab states granted full recognition to the
coalition seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

MARRAKECH, Morocco (Reuters) – Major powers are set to give Syria’s opposition full political recognition on Wednesday but not the weapons that rebel fighters need to counter President Bashar al-Assad’s superior firepower as they gain ground across the country.

The “Friends of Syria,” a loose forum of governments opposed to Assad, will meet in the Moroccan city of Marrakech as the rebels intensify their push on Damascus and signs grow that the 20-month uprising may be nearing a tipping point.

AMMAN, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Syrian rebel groups have chosen a
former officer to head a new Islamist-dominated command, in a
Western-backed effort to put the opposition’s house in order as
President Bashar al-Assad’s army takes hits that could usher his
downfall.

In Turkey, a newly formed joint command of Syrian rebel
groups has chosen Brigadier Selim Idris, one of hundreds of
officers who have defected from Assad’s army, as its head,
opposition sources said on Saturday.

AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian rebel groups have chosen a former officer to head a new Islamist-dominated command, in a Western-backed effort to put the opposition’s house in order as President Bashar al-Assad’s army takes hits that could usher his downfall.

In Turkey, a newly formed joint command of Syrian rebel groups has chosen Brigadier Selim Idris, one of hundreds of officers who have defected from Assad’s army, as its head, opposition sources said on Saturday.