Syrian troops kill hundreds of rebels in Aleppo

DAMASCUS - The Syrian troops killed hundreds of armed insurgents on Wednesday in the northern city Aleppo, but the military gains were clouded by the entry into Jordan of former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab.

The state-run SANA news agency said hundreds of armed men were killed in Salahuddien district of Aleppo and the army have regained control of the area, as pro-government media said 70 gunmen were killed in the neighborhood of Mayer in the countryside of Aleppo.

Earlier in the day, SANA said Syrian troops dealt a "fatal blow " to the armed insurgent groups in Salahuddien, adding that the army was now combing the sprawling district after killing most of the armed rebels there.

It said many of the armed men have surrendered themselves to the authorities.

The Syrian army unleashed a counter strike to regain control of the district, the first that had fallen in the hands of the armed rebels since two weeks ago.

However, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said violent clashes were still reported in the neighbourhoods of Salahuddien, Bustan al-Qasr, and al-Firdous, where rebel fighters were trying to control the raids branch and the airforce intelligence branch.

The military achievements made by Syrian troops were clouded by the news that the sacked former Syrian prime minister had arrived in Jordon.

Samih Maaytah, Jordan's government spokesman and Minister of State for Information and Media Affairs, said Hijab arrived in Jordan on Wednesday.

"Hijab entered Jordan in the early hours of Wednesday along with some of his family members," Maaytah told Xinhua, adding that he was in a safe place in Amman.

The minister did not give further details about whether Hijab will leave Jordan or not.

Hijab, who was appointed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as prime minister in a cabinet reshuffle in June, was informed of his sacking Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Wednesday that the Iranian Foreign Ministry was actively pursuing the fate of the abducted Iranian nationals in Syria.

Salehi visited Ankara on Tuesday and discussed the case of abduction of Iranian pilgrims in Syria with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Referring to his talks with Davutoglu on Syria's developments, Salehi reiterated Iran's readiness to host talks between the Syrian government and the opposition parties in a bid to end the unrest in the Arab country.

At the same time, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who had just received a letter from Iran on kidnapped Iranians in Syria, opposed any act of hostage-taking, a UN spokesman told reporters on Wednesday.

"As a matter of principle, the secretary-general condemns any taking of hostages, and calls for humane treatment, prompt and unconditional release, and safe return of any abductees, Iranians or others, being held against their will," he said.

A total of 48 Iranian pilgrims were reportedly abducted on Saturday by militants in the Syrian capital Damascus.

According to the letter sent by Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi to the UN secretary-general on Tuesday and obtained by Xinhua, three of the Iranian captives have reportedly been killed.

The crisis in Syria continued to attract international attentions. Russia was going to attend an international consultative meeting on Syria to be held in Iran on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said the consultative meeting on Syria would be attended by foreign ministers from a number of countries that have influential views on both regional and international issues.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki also reiterated Wednesday his country's support to achieve the goals of Syrian people in a peaceful way.