Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday accused the United Nations of being "two-faced" by ignoring violations committed by rebels seeking his overthrow and said his government was fighting "foreign mercenaries", DPA reported
"They only talk about violence by the government. There is not a word about the terrorists," he told Russian television in his first interview in over five months.
He added that his government was fighting "foreign mercenaries," some of whom had been caught alive and would be shown soon as proof.
International observers are in Syria to monitor a shaky UN-brokered ceasefire that came into effect on April 12 with the aim of ending 14 months of bloodshed.
The violence has continued despite their presence. The UN has accused both sides of violating the ceasefire and warned that Syria is nearing a civil war.
Al-Assad told Rossiya 24 state-run television channel that the rebels were receiving "money and weapons from various countries."
Meanwhile, opposition activists said 35 people were killed on Wednesday, including 15 civilians allegedly executed by forces loyal to al-Assad in the central province of Homs.
"After regime forces raided overnight the district of Shammas in Homs, the bodies of 15 civilians were found," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement, accusing government forces of committing "massacres."
The opposition Local Coordination Committees (LCC), which document violence, said some 20 other people were killed across the country.
Syria's state-run news agency SANA said 250 detainees were released from Syrian jails on Wednesday.
Reports from Syria are hard to independently verify, as authorities bar most foreign media from the country.
Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, said the UN mission had evacuated six observers who were trapped by fighting in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun.
Three UN vehicles were damaged in fighting in the town on Tuesday.
"They are now back in their team site in Hama," Fawzi said, referring to the central city.
In neighbouring Lebanon, fighting eased off Wednesday between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime in the northern port city of Tripoli, where three Lebanese soldiers were injured when they were caught in the crossfire.
The fighting, shattering a 24-hour lull, erupted when fighters in the rival districts of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabel Mohsen exchanged gunfire, according to the report.
The Syrian crisis has divided Lebanon between the opposition, which is backed by Western and Arab countries, and the Shiite Lebanese movement Hezbollah, which dominates the Lebanese government and is backed by Damascus and Iran.
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