Handout / Reuters
Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Habeet, near Idlib, Friday
By msnbc.com staff and news services
British Foreign Minister William Hague urged Russia and China to agree with Western powers on a political transition plan for Syria at a crisis meeting on Saturday, but admitted the talks would be “very difficult.â€
On Friday, Syrian troops shelled a suburb of Damascus, killing an estimated 125 civilians and 60 soldiers. The uprising in Syria since March of last year has killed some 14,000 people.Â
Hague told reporters upon arriving at the conference in Geneva, Switzerland, that reaching a deal with Russia and China "remains very difficult," The Associated Press reported.
"I don't know if it will be possible to do so. In the interest of saving thousands of lives of our international responsibilities, we will try to do so," he said.
"It's been always been our view, of course, that a stable future for Syria, a real political process, means Assad leaving power," he added.
Foreign ministers from Western powers and Arab countries are attending a meeting convened by international mediator Kofi Annan in Geneva to try forge a common strategy to end the 16 month-old conflict in Syria but differences over the fate of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad may thwart them.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks on Friday night in St. Petersburg with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov but failed to resolve differences, Reuters said.
'Absolutely essential'
Russia, Assad's main ally, insists that any transition plan must not be imposed on Syria by foreign powers.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, arriving for the talks, told Reuters that it was “absolutely essential that the violence stops and that a political transition can begin.â€
“Kofi Annan made reasonable propositions and I hope that they will be upheld and that's the point of today's discussions,†he added.
Syria rebels: Assad forces bombard towns as 170 tanks mass near city
Hopes have centered on persuading Russia â€" Syria's most important ally, protector and arms supplier â€" to agree to a plan that would end the four-decade rule of the Assad family dynasty.
But the Russians want Syria alone to be the master of its fate, at a time when Assad's regime and the opposition are increasingly bitterly polarized.
A bomb targeting Syria's highest court has exploded in Damascus. NBC's Bill Neely reports.
"Ultimately, we want to stop the bloodshed in Syria. If that comes through political dialogue, we are willing to do that," said Khalid Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian National Council, a coalition of Syrian opposition groups based in Istanbul, Turkey. "We are not willing to negotiate (with) Mr. Assad and those who have murdered Syrians. We are not going to negotiate unless they leave Syria."
Turkey sends military convoys toward Syrian border
The negotiating text for the multinational conference calls for establishing a transitional government of national unity, with full executive powers, that could include members of Assad's government and the opposition and other groups. It would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections.
International tensions also heightened last week after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, leading to Turkey setting up anti-aircraft guns on its border with its neighbor.Â
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