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Assad Must Step down before Dialogue, Say Opposition Figures

A group of key Syrian political opposition figures including former Premier Riad Hijab and long-time dissident Riad Seif have ruled out any dialogue with Damascus before President Bashar Assad steps down.

The consensus was reached at a meeting in Amman attended by 25 opposition figures ahead of a key meeting of the Syrian National Council in the Qatari capital to decide the future of the exiled opposition bloc, Hijab's office said in a statement received on Saturday.

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Videos Show Syria Soldiers 'Kill Prisoners, Mutilate Bodies'

A Syrian rights group on Saturday released videos of pro-regime fighters apparently killing prisoners and cutting ears from bodies, after a video showing rebels executing soldiers raised international concerns.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, said it had received the videos after the images of rebels appearing to beat and kill captured troops sparked an international uproar.

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Barak Disavows Aide's Comments on Egypt Leader

Defense Minister Ehud Barak disavowed on Saturday comments by a top aide who said he doubted there would be any dialogue between Israeli leaders and Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

"The comments by (policy department chief) Amos Gilad do not reflect the policy of the defense ministry," Barak said in a statement quoted by public radio.

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Syria Rebels Launch Assault on Key Northern Airbase

Syrian rebels launched a major assault in the northwest on Saturday against the Taftanaz airbase used to launch strikes against their positions, activists and a watchdog said.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground, said an operation had begun "to liberate the Taftanaz airbase".

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72 Dead as Thousands Protest in Syria for Foreign Action

Thousands of people opposed to President Bashar Assad protested in Syrian towns on Friday to urge the international community to act to halt the regime's bloody repression of their uprising.

Following a nationwide theme, protesters demanded justice for the victims of a regime crackdown in Daraya, a Damascus town where more than 500 people were reportedly killed in late August in the worst massacre of the uprising.

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Egypt Salafists Stage Cairo Demo on Constitution

Several hundred Salafist Muslims demonstrated in the capital on Friday to demand a stronger reference to Islamic law or sharia in Egypt's new constitution, a contentious issue of rising political tension.

The size of the protest in Tahrir Square -- up to 500 people -- was limited because the main Salafist groups decided to postpone their demonstration on the issue to a later date, Agence France Presse reported.

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Russia Slams Clinton for Syria Opposition Remarks

Russia on Friday blasted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's call for an overhaul of the Syrian opposition and accused Washington of trying to solve the conflict on its own terms.

The Russian foreign ministry said Clinton's comments on the Syrian National Council (SNC) no longer representing the entire anti-regime movement clashed with the agreements world powers reached on the conflict in Geneva in June.

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Jordanian Jihadist Lived to Die in Syria

The widow and children of Salafist Mahmoud Abdelal, who blew himself up in Syria last month, were all ears as his proud but grieving mother described his commitment to jihad.

His story is particularly timely, given that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the Syrian opposition on Wednesday to resist efforts by Islamist "extremists" to hijack the revolution to oust President Bashar Assad.

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Syria Rebels Kill Woman Kurd Militia Leader

Syrian rebels have killed a Kurdish woman militia leader in the northern city of Aleppo, highlighting growing tensions between anti-regime fighters and the Kurds, a monitoring group said Friday.

"Shaha Ali Abdu, also known as Nujeen Dirik, was killed early on Friday. She headed a Kurdish popular defense unit that is part of the Democratic Union Party (PYD)," Syria's branch of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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Syria's SNC Urges Rebels be Held to Account after Executions

The main opposition Syrian National Council on Friday urged rebels be held accountable after a video purported to show opposition fighters executing Syrian soldiers.

"We urge the (rebel) Free Syrian Army and the revolutionary movement on the ground to hold to account anyone who violates human rights," SNC human rights committee head Radif Mustafa told Agence France Presse by telephone.

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