Syrian vice president: both sides losing

BEIRUT -- Syria's longtime vice president said yesterday that his regime and the rebels are both going down a losing path after 21 months of civil war, a rare admission by a top government official that President Bashar Assad's victory is unlikely.

The comments by Farouk al-Sharaa came as an Islamist faction of Syrian rebels captured another infantry base in the northern city of Aleppo, and Syrian warplanes blasted a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, killing eight people and wounding dozens, activists said.

Al-Sharaa told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that neither the rebels nor the Assad regime can "decide the battle militarily." It appeared to be an attempt to show that the rebels are not the solution to the conflict, and their victory might bring chaos to the country.

Balancing that, he said the Assad regime "cannot achieve change." The solution to the conflict must come from within Syria, al-Sharaa said, adding that any political settlement "must include stopping all types of violence, and the creation of a national unity government with wide powers."

The Assad regime has long rejected Western involvement in the civil war and has called for talks with the opposition. Most rebel groups refuse to meet with Assad, demanding his removal from power before laying down their arms.

Last week more than 100 nations, including the United States, recognized the new Syrian opposition council as the legitimate representative of the country, a boost for the opposition forces that have been bombing regime targets in and around Damascus, once an impregnable stronghold of the Assad regime.

In the latest blow to Assad, rebels overran the base in Aleppo, Syria's largest city, the second military installation to fall there in a week. A statement by the al-Tawheed Brigade said the rebels "fully liberated" the military facility on Saturday. It said the Islamist rebel brigade's commander was killed in the battle.

In a related development, Egypt said it had evacuated more than 4,000 of its nationals from Syria over the past few months.

Also yesterday, Iran put forward a six-point plan to end the Syrian war, including negotiations, presidential elections and a halt to arms shipments. The rebels are unlikely to relate to the plan, as they refuse to talk to Assad and consider Iran unqualified to mediate because of its support of the regime.