UN's Syria envoy Brahimi to hold talks in Turkey

[Gerald]

This is Mr Brahimi's second visit to the region since his appointment in September.

The UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is due to hold talks in Turkey, amid rising tensions between Ankara and Damascus.

Mr Brahimi will hear Turkey's perspective on the raging crisis from Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Several days of cross-border firing followed the killing of five Turkish civilians by Syrian shelling last week.

Earlier this week, Turkey intercepted a Syria-bound plane amid reports it had Russian-made defence equipment aboard.

Syria has dismissed the claim as a lie, challenging Turkey to show any evidence.

And in Syria itself, activists said on Friday that rebel fighters had seized a government air defence base near the embattled north-western city of Aleppo.

The claim has not been independently verified.

'No obvious plan'

Mr Brahimi is due to meet Mr Davutoglu in Istanbul later on Saturday.

Turkey may not be at war with Syria, but it is now increasingly involved in its neighbour's conflict, the BBC's James Reynolds in Turkey reports.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accuses Turkey, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, or arming the rebels - a claim denied by the those countries.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19934103


Note: 13 October 2012 Last updated at 02:11 GMT

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