Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday noted that Syrian President Bashar Assad is trying to “scare” Christians by claiming that Syria is the "last bastion of secularism, stability and coexistence in the region."

In an interview on the pan-Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera, Geagea called on Syria's Christians to "take part in the revolution in their country."

Syrians from a broad spectrum of opposition to President Bashar Assad seemed close Thursday to reaching agreement on a unified political structure that world powers will accept as credible and representative.

"We are moving towards agreement," said Burhan Ghalioun, former chief of the main opposition Syrian National Council hours after the meeting started.

Woken up by artillery pounding the outskirts of Damascus, three-year-old Ammar runs crying to his mother who reassures him it was only a ball that hit a wall of their home.

Long spared the violence that has engulfed the rest of the country, the Syrian capital is now submerged in the war between government forces and rebels out to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Damascus on Thursday lashed out at Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, saying he has “submitted his credentials to states and terrorist organizations that are seeking to destroy Syria.”

“Arabi is hallucinating about changing the political system of a founding state of the Arab League and he's only an employee who works for its states,” Syria's foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Maqdisi said.

Syrian rebels and forces loyal to Damascus were fighting Thursday for control of a military border crossing in the north of the country on the Turkish frontier, Turkish media reported.

The clashes near the town of Ras al-Ain erupted late Wednesday and were still going on Thursday, the reports said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday rejected calls that he seek a safe exit, vowing he would "live and die in Syria,” in an interview with Russian Arabic-language channel Rusiya Al-Yaum.

"I am not a puppet.... I am Syrian and I must live and die in Syria," Assad, who is facing a nearly 20-month revolt against his rule, told the channel according to transcripts published on its website.

Three mortar shells fired from Syria landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, causing no damage or injuries, the army said, in the latest apparent spillover from violence ravaging Syria.

"They are apparently shells fired in error during fighting between different forces inside Syria," an Israeli army spokeswoman told Agence France Presse.

Few archaeological sites seem as entwined with conflict, ancient and modern, as the city of Karkemish.

The scene of a battle mentioned in the Bible, it lies smack on the border between Turkey and Syria, where civil war rages today. Twenty-first century Turkish sentries occupy an acropolis dating back more than 5,000 years, and the ruins were recently demined. Visible from crumbling, earthen ramparts, a Syrian rebel flag flies in a town that regime forces fled just months ago.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday urged Syrian opposition groups to unite to halt extremists gaining influence in the country, as new leaders for the movement were elected in Doha.

Hague, speaking during a visit to India, said that opposition factions had to work together to end the conflict in Syria which erupted last year when protesters took to the streets to demand the fall of President Bashar Assad.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul said Thursday that the country reserved the right to defend itself against any threat from neighboring Syria, amid discussions about the possible deployment of U.S. Patriot missiles.

"Patriots... are being discussed within NATO. It is only natural for us to take any measure for defense reasons," Gul told reporters, but insisted that it was "out of the question for Turkey to start a war with Syria.”