Russia on Friday denied discussing Syrian President Bashar Assad's departure with Western nations and warned it may skip a planned conference on the crisis if Iran is not invited as well.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's comments seemed aimed at quashing reports from several major capitals about a discernible shift in Russia's approach to its Soviet-era ally that acknowledged the nearing end of Assad's regime.

Nine bodies, some of them mutilated, were found in a town near Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday.

The Britain-based watchdog said it was unclear who carried out the killings but opposition groups blamed pro-government militia and demanded international action to prevent such "massacres."

The families of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria last month held talks with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace on Friday, a meeting that An Nahar daily expected to witness a severe criticism against the government’s inability to secure their release.

The newspaper quoted members of the committee that visited Suleiman along with MPs Ali Ammar and Ghazi Zoaiter as saying the president will hear severe criticism over the government’s management of the file 24 days after the abduction of the men in the northern province of Aleppo by armed men.

The United States on Thursday acknowledged providing communications equipment and other forms of assistance to members of the "peaceful opposition" in Syria.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the aid is part of "non-lethal" assistance to Syrians living under President Bashar Assad's regime, and part of a global effort to support Internet freedom.

Israeli officials are concerned that Hizbullah will try to move sophisticated weaponry, including Scud missiles, from Syria to Lebanon to protect them in the event of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s downfall, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Syria is believed to have allocated a number of Scud D missiles – the most advanced missile in its arsenal – to Hizbullah already in 2010 but they have been stored in bases in Syria, it said.

British foreign minister William Hague Thursday urged Russia and Iran to use their influence over Syria to achieve a peaceful end to the bloody 15-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Hague met his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Kabul on the sidelines of a conference on the future of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the implementation of a peace plan proposed by international peace envoy Kofi Annan.

Syrian opposition groups are to meet in a bid to settle their differences, as the violence in their country threatens to descend into civil war, sources among the groups said Thursday.

Preparations for Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Lebanon in September are going ahead despite the escalating conflict in neighboring Syria, the Vatican said on Thursday.

"There is no uncertainty about the preparations," Benedict's spokesman Federico Lombardi said at a press conference. "The Holy See is doing everything to make sure the trip takes place as planned" on September 14-16.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Kelly Clements welcomed on Thursday the work of Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council in assisting those in need, announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

She urged “the Lebanese government to continue to work closely with the international community to address the humanitarian needs and to ensure the safety of displaced Syrians in Lebanon”.

UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon Robert Watkins stressed on Thursday on the importance of demarcating the Lebanese-Syrian border, voicing the U.N.’s commitment to assisting the Lebanese authorities in addressing the humanitarian needs of the Syrian refugees.

“We would welcome a decision that would permit the High Relief Commission to operate throughout Lebanon to ensure a more efficient and coordinated response to the needs of the Lebanese and displaced population,” Watkins said during a visit to the eastern border town of Arsal in the Bekaa.