As violence in Syria intensified Friday, Russia's ambassador to France said Moscow believes Syria's president is ready to step down "in a civilized way."
The Syrian government denied the report.
Alexandre Orlov told RFI on Friday that "personally ... I think it will be difficult for him to stay in office given everything that's happened."
On Friday, a fourth member of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle died of wounds from Wednesday’s bomb attack on a crisis meeting attended by high ranking government officials.
Fighting in Damascus was intense Friday. Rebels torched police headquarters on Thursday and residents are fleeing to Turkey and Iraq. Rebels captured border crossings to these two countries and Assad’s military forces fought to recapture them.
Janice Stein, Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs told CTV’s Canada AM that “there’s no question, this is the beginning of the end” for Assad’s regime.
Stein said the regime was not going to fall immediately – she believes it will take some time as there are significant numbers of republican guard units that are still in tact and ready to fight to defend Assad.
With UN efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Syria a decided failure, the rebels now know it is up to them to decide the fate of the regime on the ground, Stein said.
“Frankly, the time for any international action is gone,” Stein said.
China and Russia have been staunch opponents to every UN Security Council motion to ratchet up pressure on Assad.
“The real problem here is Russia,” Stein said. “It’s really stunning. The Russian government is going to be on the wrong side of history.”
International governments have not given up however. An official said Friday that European Union nations will enforce an arms embargo against Syria by boarding ships and aircraft carrying suspicious cargo to the war-torn nation.
The senior EU official said obligatory inspections will begin after being adopted by foreign ministers Monday. The official could not be named under standing rules.
The mandate of UN observers in Syria expires Friday. Thus far they have been fundamentally isolated and unable to play any real role.
Stein said she expects their mandate will be extended and that it’s possible they could become important players once the regime falls.
“They may be able to be effective for the first time after the rebels have defeated the regime on the ground,” Stein said.
The situation for some 88,000 Iraqi refugees living in Syria grew more desperate Friday.
An Iraqi refugee family of seven was found shot dead in their Damascus apartment, the UN refugee agency said Friday.
Thousands of the refugees, mainly Iraqis who have been living in the Damascus suburb of Seida Zeinab, have fled their homes amid increasing violence and "targeted threats" against them, refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said.
With files from The Associated Press
