Russian official: President Assad ready to step down

Syrian President Assad ready to step down in 'civilized manner:' Russia   Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is ready to give up power but only in a "civilised manner", Russia's envoy to Paris Alexander Orlov told Radio France International (RFI) in an interview Friday.Assad had accepted a transition plan agreed by world powers in Geneva and named a representative for talks with the opposition. "That is to say, he is accepting to go -- but to go in a civilised manner," Orlo said.
In Damascus rebels torched the main police headquarters as law and order continued to break down in the capital. The battle for parts of the capital raged into the early hours of Friday, with corpses piled in the streets. In some neighbourhoods, residents said there were signs the government's presence was diminishing.
Syrian regime forces however launched an assault on the eastern Damascus neighbourhood of Jubar on Friday morning, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Syrian regular forces, including trucks and cars packed with heavily armed men, stormed the district of Jubar," the Britain-based watchdog said,
Syrian state-run TV added that government troops had recovered full control of the Midan district of Damascus.Damascus activist Khaled al-Shami said rebels carried out a "tactical" retreat early Friday to spare civilians further shelling after five days of intense clashes between opposition fighters and regime forces.
Rebel fighters also took over three of the country's border crossings into Turkey and Iraq as diplomacy reached a dead end. The capture of the crossings – reportedly including all into Iraq – appeared to represent a dramatic new challenge to Assad's control and will likely prove crucial in funnelling arms and supplies into besieged rebel areas.
About 20,000 Syrians have travelled across the main border crossing into Lebanon over the past 24 hours, a Lebanese security source working at the border told Reuters. The number of Syrians, many of them day-workers, who travel through the official Masnaa border crossing usually hovers around 5,000 per day the source said.
A senior Iraqi government official earlier said Iraqi border forces had witnessed the executions of several Syrian army soldiers at the hands of the rebels, according to the New York Times. Iraqi officials confirmed the seizures of four crossings and said the frontier was shut and additional Iraqi troops sent there as a precaution, it said.
Analysts estimate President Assad has amassed up to $1.5bn (£950m) for his family and close associates, despite moves in London, Switzerland and the US to freeze the assets of his regime. Many of Assad's assets are held in Russia, Hong Kong and a range of offshore tax havens to spread the risk of seizure, according to London-based business intelligence firm Alaco.