Turkey: We Want Missiles on Syria's Border

And Western officials engage in flurry of diplomatic moves
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2012 7:40 AM CST
Turkey: We Want Missiles on Syria's Border
King Abdullah II of Jordan ,left, shake hands with British Prime Minister David Cameron at the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan, Wednesday, Nov. 7 2012.    (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

With President Obama's victory in the bag, the world is moving to resolve Syria's increasingly bitter civil war, the AP reports. Among the flurry of moves:

  • Turkey is having an ongoing discussion with its allies—the US included—about creating a safe zone inside Syria with Patriot missiles. In fact, Turkey plans to ask NATO for the right to place the missiles on Syria's border, Reuters reports.

  • British Prime Minister David Cameron, touring a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, said officials will work directly with rebels to help "shape the opposition"—politically, not militarily—for a future transition of power.
  • Turkey, the US, Britain, and France are already set to sit down with Syria's opposition groups tomorrow in Doha, Qatar—no word yet, however, on whether that meeting will include rebel fighters.
  • Cameron said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's safe exit "could be arranged" with immunity as part of a transition of power, Reuters reports. Cameron "would favor him facing the full force of international law," but "if he wants to leave he could leave, that could be arranged."
  • Meanwhile, fighting escalated in Damascus today, with the Free Syrian Army taking responsibility for mortar attacks that rocked government strongholds, reports the New York Times. Rebels also reported regime airstrikes and shelling in the suburbs and clashes with government forces.
  • In a sign of increasing boldness, rebels shot mortars directly at Assad's palace in Damascus, but missed, Reuters reports.
(More Syria stories.)

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