[h=3]By SAM DAGHER, NOUR MALAS and JOE LAURIA[/h]
European Pressphoto AgencyA vehicle burns in Damascus in this scene from a video supplied by Shaam News Network on Monday.
BEIRUT—Syrian rebels disrupted highways in Damascus and battled government forces in several neighborhoods where tanks and armored vehicles were deployed, activists and residents said, in the second day of what opposition fighters called a planned push on President Bashar al-Assad's seat of power.
The rebel escalation in Syria's capital came as the West and Russia appeared headed for a showdown over a resolution at the United Nations Security Council. The U.S. and its Western allies are seeking a formulation that would threaten U.N. sanctions against the Syrian regime for the first time, which Russia's top diplomat called "blackmail."
BEIRUT—Syrian rebels disrupted highways in Damascus and battled government forces in several neighborhoods where tanks and armored vehicles were deployed, activists and residents said, in the second day of what opposition fighters called a planned push on President Bashar al-Assad's seat of power.
The rebel escalation in Syria's capital came as the West and Russia appeared headed for a showdown over a resolution at the United Nations Security Council. The U.S. and its Western allies are seeking a formulation that would threaten U.N. sanctions against the Syrian regime for the first time, which Russia's top diplomat called "blackmail."