Dozens killed in Syria as US, Turkey slam regime

Syria's government on Tuesday accused rebel forces of using chemical weapons for the first time, but the opposition denied the claim, saying instead that government forces might have used banned weapons. "Terrorists fired rockets containing chemical materials on Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province," the state news agency SANA and Syrian state television said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned that the fall of his regime would destabilise the region "for many years," as US President Barack Obama announced talks with Middle East allies over the crisis.

Rebels close to Syria's central city of Hama are being pounded with bombs and shells as the regime wages a fierce assault to reverse losses in rural areas home to many of its Alawite supporters.

President Bashar al-Assad said his regime has conquered the "conspiracy" against it, even as rebels overran the capital of Raqa province and captured its governor in the biggest success of their revolt.

The international envoy to Syria said after talks with the country’s leader Monday that the situation was “worrying” and gave no indication of progress toward a negotiated solution for the civil war. Lakhdar Brahimi’s mission came as activists reported intense fighting in the central province of Hama, where anti-government gunmen entered the predominantly Alawite town of Maan. Assad’s regime is dominated by members of his minority Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam, while most of the rebels are Sunni Muslims.

The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faced growing pressure Saturday a day after security forces killed at least 11 people as more than half a million took to the streets across the country to demand Assad step down, activists said.The protests came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said time was running out for the Syrian president, as he pursues a violent crackdown on pro-democracy activists that has killed more than 1,300 people since mid-March.Nine of the dead were taking part in anti-regime demonstrations after weekly prayers.

BEIRUT — Syria’s Western-backed opposition plunged into disarray on Sunday as its president resigned and its military leader refused to recognize a prime minister recently elected to lead an interim rebel government.

President Bashar al-Assad's chances of staying in power are "shrinking by the day," Dmitri Medvedev said on Sunday in Russia's sternest criticism of the Syrian regime to date.