Syria prez talks peace as violence goes on
By with Turkey's foreign minister, even as the Syrian military unleashed a fresh assault on dissent that activists said killed more than 20 people.. Speaking to reporters on his return to Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu did not say what specific steps they had discussed or whether Assad had agreed to consider them.. "We discussed ways to prevent confrontation between the army and the people and tensions like those in Hama in the most open and clear way," Davutoglu said, referring to the Syrian city that has become a flash point in the 5-month-old uprising against Assad's autocratic rule.. "The coming days will be important to see if the expectations are being met. We hope that internal peace and calm is achieved and steps for reform are taken," Davutoglu said.. The regime has shown no signs of scaling back its crackdown despite increasing diplomatic isolation. Envoys from India, Brazil and South Africa were expected to meet with Syrian officials in Damascus today, part of a broad diplomatic push to stop the killings.. Syria's state-run news agency reported that Assad told Davutoglu the government will be relentless in its pursuit of "terrorist groups" to safeguard stability and security in the country. Syrian authorities blame the unrest on extremist and terrorist groups seeking to destabilize the country, although most of the people killed are unarmed, peaceful protesters.. SANA said Assad also pledged to press ahead with reforms. But such promises have rung hollow, coupled with a campaign that rights groups say has killed about 1,700, mostly civilians, since March.