The former head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria, Robert Mood, said Friday that President Bashar Assad's fall was only a matter of time but that his exit might not end the conflict.

"Sooner or later, the regime will fall," said the Norwegian general, whose mandate to lead a 300-strong mission ended last week amid a sharp spike in violence.

A British and a Dutch photographer have been freed after being held hostage eight days in Syria and are now in Turkey, the Dutch foreign ministry said Friday.

Freelance photographers John Cantlie and Jeroen Oerlemans were kidnapped in northern Syria on July 19 and released on Thursday.

Syrian troops opened fire on a group of civilians fleeing into neighboring Jordan, killing a three-year-old child, Jordanian officials said on Friday.

The president of Jordan's Kitab wal Sunna charity, which provides aid to some 50,000 Syrian refugees, said a Jordanian soldier who tried to help the fleeing civilians was wounded in Thursday night's shooting but that was denied by Information Minister Samih Maayatah.

Syrian lawmaker Ikhlas Badawi, who represents the city of Aleppo in the assembly that was elected in widely criticized May polls, has defected and fled to Turkey, the opposition said on Friday.

"There were contacts for some time to ensure her a safe place," Samir Nashhar, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, told Agence France Presse.

Troops fired from helicopter gunships on several neighborhoods of Syria's second city Aleppo on Friday, as the army faced off against rebel fighters, activists told Agence France Presse.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army was using helicopter gunships in the southwest of the city, in the Salaheddin, Bustan al-Qasr, Sukari, al-Mashhad and al-Azamiya neighborhoods.

Hizbullah fighters have lately crossed the area of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali in Hermel to Syria to help Syrian government troops in their fight against rebels, security sources said.

The sources told An Nahar daily published on Friday that the militants from the 910 unit of Hizbullah’s Jihad Council are fighting alongside the Syrian forces in the areas of al-Qussair, Homs and al-Rastan.

U.N. chief peacekeeper Herve Ladsous said on Thursday there is "no plan B" for Syria, urging all parties to implement the plan brokered by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to stop the deadly violence.

Speaking to reporters as fighting raged across Syria between government troops and rebels, Ladsous said "everything should be done to reduce and put an end to the violence and that includes, of course, the use of heavy weapons by official forces."

Fighting raged in Syria's second city Aleppo on Thursday afternoon, a watchdog said, as President Bashar Assad issued a law establishing a court for terrorism-linked cases.

A security source told Agence France Presse troops were preparing to launch an all-out offensive on rebel-held districts of Aleppo.

Syrian dissidents meeting in Rome signed a joint appeal Thursday for a political solution to the Syria conflict, calling for a ceasefire, the release of detainees and national reconciliation.

"We cannot accept Syria being transformed into a theatre of regional and international conflict," said the 17 signatories of the appeal, including leaders of the National Coordination Body and the Democratic Forum.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday stressed to Prime Minister Najib Miqati his country’s support for Lebanon and inquired about the efforts that are being made by the Lebanese government to aid the Syrian refugees, the premier’s office said.

Miqati is in London to attend the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games. He is accompanied by Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami.