Winner unlikely in Syrian war: al-Sharaa

Syrian VP Faruq al-Sharaa called for an end to all forms of violence among warring parties in Syria. Source: AAP

SYRIAN Vice President Faruq al-Sharaa says a clear winner is unlikely to emerge from the 21-month conflict.

Sharaa's comments, published on Monday, came as Syrian warplanes pounded eastern Damascus and as residents of a Palestinian camp in the capital - bombed for the first time on Sunday by the regime - fled renewed clashes.

Sharaa told the pro-Damascus Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar that neither government forces nor the rebels can achieve outright victory in the war which activists say has already killed more than 43,000 people.

"No opposition can end the battle militarily, just as the security forces and army cannot achieve a decisive conclusion," he said.

"Every day that passes, we are moving further away from a military or political solution," said Sharaa, the most prominent Sunni Muslim in the Alawite minority-dominated regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"We must position ourselves to defend Syria's existence - we are not in a battle for an individual or a regime."

Sharaa criticised Arab and Western powers who have recognised the armed opposition, who he says "cannot claim they are the sole legitimate representatives of the Syrian people."

He believes the solution to the crisis "must be Syrian" but could involve key regional countries and UN Security Council member states which can help to form a "national unity government with broad powers."

Sharaa, 74, has served the regime for decades, both under Assad and his father and predecessor Hafez, but has been seen in public only a few times since the uprising erupted in March last year.

In October, Turkey said Sharaa would be suitable to lead a transitional government and on Monday, Tehran, a key Damascus ally, offered its own plan to end the conflict.

Tehran's six-point plan includes an immediate halt to violence under UN supervision, lifting sanctions against Syria, freeing political prisoners and a national dialogue to form a transitional government to organise free elections.

Opposition groups, as well as Washington and other Western and Arab nations, reject any Iranian involvement in resolving the crisis, saying Tehran has been discredited due to its unwavering support for Assad.

On Sunday, warplanes bombed the Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, prompting UN chief Ban Ki-moon to protest.

"The secretary general is alarmed by the continued dramatic escalation of violence in Syria over the past several days and the grave danger facing civilians in areas under fire," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on local medics and activists for its information, said the air strikes killed at least eight civilians in Yarmouk.

On Monday, residents told AFP that several people in the camp were fleeing as new clashes erupted between the pro-regime Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and rebels.

One resident, Issam, said he was unable to return home on Sunday to Yarmouk "because of the fighting that took place in most of the streets and the snipers."

He spent the night at work, and early on Monday took his wife and children to stay with relatives near Damascus.

Sunday's missile strikes hit the Abdel Qader Husseini Mosque which was acting as a makeshift shelter for about 600 people fleeing violence, activists said.

Amateur video posted online by activists in Yarmouk showed several bloodied bodies at the entrance of the mosque.

"There is a state of real war in the camp now," resident Abu Mohammed told AFP via the internet.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the bombing of refugee camps must stop immediately, while the Islamist Hamas movement condemned the air strike as a "crime."

Nationwide in Syria at least 160 people were killed on Sunday - 85 civilians, 35 soldiers and 40 rebels, the Observatory said.

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