Syria: sectarian violence hits Damascus

As the violence came within less than a mile of the sensitive Shia Sayyeda Zainab shrine, irate members of the local Shia community reportedly formed vigilante groups, and came out onto the streets to fight against members of the rebel Free Syrian army, according to activists.

The Syrian Observatory for human rights reported three killed and 16 wounded in the clashes surrounding the Shia shrine. Religious leaders from Syria's minority Christian sect said the violence based on ethnic or religious divisions was a product of the protracted war that has gripped the country.

"We have been living together without problems for centuries. Sunnis and Christians would bow to me as I walked through the streets," said Gregory Laham, now the Catholic Patriarch in Lebanon, who was born in Damascus, that became the scene of a massacre that killed up more than 300 people last month.

The clashes are the latest evidence that Syria's civil war is fast descending into a brutal and intractable internecine conflict.

In the coming days veteran Algerian diplomat and international peace envoy Mr Brahimi, who replaced Kofi Annan last month, will meet with Syrian government officials including President Bashar al-Assad, and members of the Syrian opposition in an attempt to rescue the country from its fate.

"We came to Syria to consult with our Syrian brothers," Mr Brahimi said on arrival at the airport in Damascus. "There is a crisis in Syria and I believe it is getting worse."

In a less conciliatory approach, William Hague, the foreign secretary, said while on a visit to Iraq that the Damascus regime is "doomed", and that is was "impossible" for it to survive after committing so many crimes.

Elsewhere on the ground, rebels advanced on Thursday into the contested central Midan district of Aleppo, a neighbourhood that is home to many of Syria's minority sects.

"We are used to this violence now. It has become our daily bread. But sometimes it is hard to eat," said Patriarch Laham.