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         Syrian Assault on Qusair Intensifies Ahead of Hezbollah Speech

   Syrian anti-government activists say Syrian troops have launched the
   heaviest barrage of gunfire yet in a week-long battle to re-take the
   strategic town of Qusair from rebel fighters.
   The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday
   that the barrage of shelling and rocket fire on the main roads of town
   is at its most intense since the offensive began last Sunday.
   The rebels are fighting to hold Qusair as a means of protecting their
   supply lines to Lebanon.
   Saturday`s assault on Qusair by Syrian forces and fighters from
   Lebanon-based Hezbollah comes ahead of a key speech later in the day by
   Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. The speech marks the anniversary of
   Israel`s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. The anniversary is marked
   each year as a major military victory.
   On Friday, Russia said the Syrian government has agreed in principle to
   attend a proposed international conference on ending the civil war and
   setting up a transitional government.
   But a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday it is not possible
   to set a date yet because it is not clear yet who will speak for the
   Syrian opposition.
   Russia and the United States have proposed opening the peace conference
   next month in Geneva. A senior U.S. State Department official confirmed
   to VOA that Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister
   Sergei Lavrov will meet Monday in Paris on the latest plans for the
   talks.
   Kerry told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Saturday on the sidelines
   of an African Union summit that the United States needs U.N. help to
   get things moving with Syria.
   More than 80,000 people have been killed and several million displaced
   since the start of the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar
   al-Assad more than two years ago.
   The State Department says involvement in Syria by Lebanese-based
   Hezbollah militants risks dragging Lebanon into a foreign war. Fighting
   this past week between backers and opponents of the Assad government
   killed 23 people in the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-assault-on-qusair-intensifies-
   ahead-of-hezbollah-speech/1668160.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-assault-on-qusair-intensifies-ahead-of-hezbollah-speech/1668160.html