Fourth Syrian minister dies from bomb wounds

Fourth Syrian Minister dies Damascus - AFP   Syrian troops and tanks on Friday drove rebels from a Damascus neighbourhood where some of the heaviest of this week's fighting has been taking place. Activists say hundreds of people have been killed this week, as regime forces struggled to regain power after a deadly bombing against the regime's leadership.
A fourth member of President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle, national security chief General Hisham Ikhtiyar, died of wounds he suffered in Wednesday's bomb blast, which went off during a high-level security meeting in Damascus, according to government media.
The bombing has been described as a resounding blow to al-Assad, killing his defence minister and his influential brother-in-law along with another security official.  The men were all central to crushing the crackdown on the uprising against his rule.
Political observers say the blast, which comes after days of intense fighting in the capital, is a sign that al-Assad is losing his grip on power.But on Friday regime troops regained control of the district of Midan in the southern part of Damascus, prompting rebels to launch new fighting in several other areas.
A security source told AFP the army was now in control of the Damascus neighbourhoods of Midan, Tadamon, Qaboon and Barzeh, while fierce clashes were reported in other districts including Jubar, Mazzeh and Kfar Sousa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported intense fighting in several neighbourhoods of Aleppo and said troops opened fire on a large demonstration in the city, Syria's commercial centre.
It said 177 people were killed nationwide on Friday, including 119 civilians, at least seven of them children.
The deaths came after 302 people were killed on Thursday, the deadliest day of the uprising so far.
Amnesty International said the rebels too could be held criminally responsible for the deaths of civilians as they took the fight to residential areas of the large cities.
An AFP photographer reported that FSA fighters fought a raging battle with Syrian troops at the Bab al-Hawa border post with Turkey and that some 150 rebels controlled the crossing on Friday.
Three more generals crossed into Turkey, bringing to 24 the number of generals who have defected to Syria's northern neighbour, a foreign ministry diplomat told AFP.
On Thursday, Iraq's deputy interior minister Adnan al-Assadi told AFP that the FSA had seized control of all three crossings along their common border.
At the Albu Kamal border point, an AFP photographer saw a watchtower apparently empty and immigration buildings deserted.
But later in the day, medics and rebel fighters reported heavy shelling by the army of Albu Kamal town.
Residents on the Iraqi side of the border said that relatives in the town were desperately trying to cross but that they were being turned back by Iraqi troops.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on the United Nations on Friday to intervene to provide safe passage for Iraqis escaping the escalating violence in Syria.
The Iraqi government also warned it would not be able to assist Syrians looking to escape the bloodshed.