Mokhtar Lamani, the head of U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's office in Syria, met members of the armed opposition on Saturday, a U.N. official told Agence France Presse.

Lamani visited the Lajat area some 50 kilometers south of Damascus and "met leaders of the armed opposition," spokesman Khaled al-Masri said.

The military judiciary sentenced on Saturday two Syrians to life in prison with hard labor after being allegedly convicted of spying for their country, media reports said.

According to MTV, Moufid George Bou Hassoun and Ahmed Mohammed al-Elkeh were sentenced separately in absentia with their civil rights being stripped.

Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday appealed for the release of 48 of its citizens held hostage by rebels in Syria and threatened with execution one by one unless Syria's army withdraws from an area in Damascus province.

The statement, relayed by the official news agency IRNA, described the captives as "pilgrims."

Syrian President Bashar Assad laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Damascus on Saturday to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Middle East war, as his troops faced mounting losses at the hands of a domestic uprising.

State television carried pictures of Assad laying the wreath at the monument at Mount Kassioun on the outskirts of the capital.

Military Tribunal Judge Saqr Saqr referred to Military Examining Magistrate Riyad Abu Ghida on Saturday the file on the telephone call that allegedly took place between former Minister Michel Samaha and Syrian President Bashar Assad's media adviser Buthaina Shaaban, reported the National News Agency on Saturday.

The telephone call took place shortly before Samaha transported explosives from Syria to Lebanon.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday appealed for the release of 48 of its citizens held hostage by rebels in Syria and threatened with execution one by one unless Syria's army withdraws from an area in Damascus province.

The statement, relayed by the official news agency IRNA, described the captives as "pilgrims."

Turkey hit back on Saturday against what it said was a fresh round of mortar fire from Syria, as monitors said rebels seized a Syrian border village after a fierce battle that left almost 30 dead.

Syria, for its part, said four Turks were among a convoy of "terrorists" killed in fighting in the heart of Aleppo, just hours after U.N. condemnation of deadly jihadist bombings in the commercial capital.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stated that political difference should never escalate into armed clashes, regardless of how great the dispute, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

He said before his visitors while reminiscing about the “futile” Lebanese civil war: “At the time, no human would ever have imagined that the Islamic resistance would turn its arms towards the internal scene.”

The head of Syria's main opposition coalition on Friday accused the Damascus regime of trying to spread the unrest in the country to the region, branding the deadly shelling of a Turkish town "a regime plan".

"This incident was a Syrian regime plan," Syrian National Council Chief Abdel Basset Sayda told reporters at a press conference in Istanbul, referring to the Syrian shelling that left five Turks dead in a nearby border town on Wednesday.

Turkey returned fire Friday after a new Syrian shell landed in on its territory close to their common border, NTV private news channel reported.

The Syrian shell landed in the Turkish town of Altinozu in Hatay province near the border, triggering an immediate response fire from Turkish forces, at around 1630 GMT.