Syria's under-fire president Sunday appointed two new governors in flashpoint provinces that have seen staunch protests against his regime, as security forces reportedly killed two more civilians.

State television said President Bashar al-Assad named new governors for the northwestern province of Idlib and for the Damascus governorate, both of which have seen massive anti-regime demonstrations over the past seven months.

Syria's military clampdown on protest hubs, and skirmishes pitting soldiers against armed gunmen, believed to be defectors, killed at least 11 people dead on Saturday, activists said.

Meanwhile, Iran, Syria's key ally, took a tougher stance against the regime of President Bashar Assad, openly condemning its crackdown on dissent that has left more than 3,000 people dead, most of them civilians, according to the United Nations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the "killings and massacre" in key ally Syria, which has carried out a bloody crackdown on seven months of protests, in an interview with CNN.

"We condemn killings and massacre in Syria, whether it is security forces being killed or people and the opposition," Ahmadinejad said, according to excerpts of the interview reported in Farsi by the website of Iran's state broadcaster on Saturday.

The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad stated on Friday that the Resistance is keen on finding solutions to disputes in Lebanon through national dialogue, which it believes is the only way to end the current political divide in the country.

He said during a seminar from Moscow: “The Resistance is not deluded in believing that it can singlehandedly rule a country, even if it was in a position of power.”

Syrian security forces killed 18 civilians on Friday, 15 of them in the flashpoint central city of Homs, where the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi galvanized mass protests, rights activists said.

"Fifteen people were killed in Homs," which has been at the heart of military operations this week, Rami Abdul Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Agence France Presse.

The Secretary General of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council Nasri Khoury stressed on Friday the daily coordination between the Lebanese and Syrian armies, adding that they hold field meetings on a weekly basis to this end.

He said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati: “The Syrian army did not infiltrate Lebanese territory as it had been claimed and the Lebanese army can vouch for this as it is responsible for controlling the situation on the border.”

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh on Thursday announced his rejection of a possible rise to power by Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, saying “I cannot accept those who believe that it is permissible to spill my blood.”

In an interview on LBC television, Franjieh revealed that ex-PM Saad Hariri had allegedly told him Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was “totally innocent” of his father’s 2005 assassination and that “the Iranians were behind the assassination” of former premier Rafik Hariri.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri noted on Thursday that the death of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi marked the end of a dark period in the Libyan people’s lives and the beginning of a new phase of freedom and democracy.

He said in a statement: “Gadhafi’s fate is the inevitable end of all dictators who reject their people’s will for freedom and democracy.”

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has said that Hizbullah’s arms have become the backbone of political differences in Lebanon that would have negative consequences on all the Lebanese.

In his 14th report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, Ban said the weapons were creating an atmosphere of intimidation and were a direct challenge to the safety of civilians and a monopoly on the right of the government to use force.

Syria's largest opposition group threatened on Wednesday to seek outside help to stop the regime's "irresponsible" deadly crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.

Speaking in the Libyan capital, Syrian National Council member Najib Ghadbian also told reporters that a peaceful revolution could bring down the regime of embattled President Bashar al-Assad.