Russia urges Syrian opposition to end violence

  Russia condemns "terrorist" acts against Syrian civilians and urges the opposition to abandon the tactics of violence and open negotiations with the authorities, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. A militant group has killed the son of Syria's grand mufti together with a Syrian university professor in recent days, the two latest victims in a new wave of assassinations that has hit the country. "We are convinced that terrorist methods... can only provoke a dangerous confrontation and even a civil war with devastating consequences both for Syria and for the region as a whole," the ministry said in a statement. The Syrian government has used force to crush opposition protests, which followed a wave of uprisings in other Arab countries. The UN says over 2,000 people have died since the start of the protests in March.