Children as young as 13 are a particular target in the "rampant" use of torture by Syrian government forces battling opposition protests, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Friday.

The United Nations says hundreds of children have been killed in the crackdown over the past 10 months, and the rights group highlighted cases of children shot in their homes or on the street, or grabbed from schools.

Anti-regime activists have called for Syrians to take to the streets in their "millions" on Friday to commemorate 30 years since government forces killed thousands in a crackdown on the central city of Hama.

Under the slogan "Hama, forgive us," the activists appealed for "millions" of people to take part in the demonstrations in honor of those who died in the massacre ordered by the father of President Bashar Assad.

A new draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution to stop the violence in Syria contains concessions to Russia in an effort to overcome Moscow's objections, diplomats said on Thursday.

"They are not made explicit in the latest draft but it is very clear what they are referring to," one Western diplomat said, alluding to the doubts that Russia vowed would lead it to veto any "unacceptable" proposal.

The head of the controversial Arab League observer mission to Syria expressed satisfaction with the monitors' effort on Thursday, even as a deadly regime crackdown on dissent continues.

"I swear by God, I am fully satisfied with myself and with all those on the mission in Syria," Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi told reporters on a brief return to his homeland.

The joint security and military by-committee for the Bekaa in Lebanon and Reef Damascus in Syria held a meeting on Thursday during which both sides suggested the formation of a joint military and security by-committee to monitor the situation along the border between the Bekaa and Reef Damascus provinces, reported the National News Agency.

The two sides also addressed the alleged arms smuggling from the Lebanese towns of Arsal, al-Tafil, Maarboun. And Deir al-Aashaer.

Turkey would consider giving asylum to Syrian President Bashar Assad's family if such a request is made, President Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying by daily Radikal on Thursday.

"There is no such thing right now," said Gul, when asked about Turkey's answer to a possible asylum request from Assad's family.

Speaker Nabih Berri stated on Thursday that Lebanon’s policy of distancing itself from the developments in the Arab world has preserved the Lebanese people’s interests.

He said: “Lebanon’s positive neutrality on all issues, except those related to Israel, has protected the country’s interests.”

Russia will not stop selling arms to Syria, a top defense official said Thursday, as Moscow stands by its longtime ally despite mounting international condemnation over the Syrian regime's bloody crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said his country is not violating any international obligations by selling weapons to Damascus.

Houses in southern Lebanon are a storage facility for missiles or rockets or a launch pad which are destructive and could hit the heart of the Israeli cities, Israel's chief of military intelligence, General Aviv Kochavi, warned on Thursday at a security conference.

Intelligence estimates, he said, showed "one in every 10 houses in south Lebanon is a storage facility for missiles or rockets or a launch pad for devices that are increasingly accurate and destructive."

Syria's opposition called protests Thursday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hama massacre, as the United Nations moved closer to agreement on action to halt a deadly regime crackdown on dissent.

Demonstrations were planned in various cities in memory of the estimated 10,000 to 40,000 people who perished in February 1982 when then president Hafez Assad, father of the current president Bashar, launched a fierce assault on the central town to crush an Islamist revolt.