Increased calls for Syrian truce
Germany and Turkey joined efforts for peace as a top U.N. envoy arrived for talks.
BEIRUT - Turkey and Germany on Friday threw their weight behind calls for a Syrian cease-fire during a Muslim holiday next week as the international envoy for the conflict arrived in Damascus to push for the plan.
The effort has taken on urgency after activists in recent days reported some of the heaviest air bombardments by President Bashar al-Assad's military against rebel-held areas.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, was expected to meet Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem on Saturday. Brahimi has called for a truce by both sides in the civil war during the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday that begins next Friday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also said both sides should end hostilities "at least" through Eid al-Adha.
"It is especially important for the Syrian regime, which has launched bombs on its people with planes and helicopters, to halt these attacks immediately and without preconditions," Davutoglu said.
He said the opposition must also abide by the cease-fire.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also called for a cease-fire, saying it would be "an important humanitarian glimmer of hope for people in Syria."
Others who have joined the calls for peace include Assad's allies in Iran. But both sides of the conflict have flouted previous cease-fires.
Despite the push for a cease-fire, activists reported more regime airstrikes Friday in the northern Idlib province. There were no immediate details on casualties.
Dozens were reported killed in airstrikes on opposition targets across Syria's north.
On Thursday, Syrian warplanes hammered the city of Maaret al-Numan, captured by rebels, leaving behind scenes of carnage captured on amateur videos that showed a man holding up two child-sized legs not connected to a body and another carrying a dismembered arm.