From Reuters:  The head of NATO said on Thursday he thought the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was nearing collapse, and condemned the use by Assad’s forces of Scud missiles to attack rebels.

"I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters after a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at NATO headquarters. "I think now it is only a question of time."

From Michael Pearson and Saad Abedine, CNN:  "I urge the regime to stop violence, to realize what is the actual situation, and initiate a process that leads to the accommodation of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people," Rasmussen said. . . .

Rasmussen’s assessment follows a similar outlook from Russia, a longtime ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"We need to look the facts in the eye," the state-run RIA Novosti news service quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying, noting the Syrian government is losing control of an ever widening portion of the country. "Unfortunately, we can’t exclude a victory by the opposition."  (photo: NATO)

Image: nato%2012%2013%2012%20Rasmussen.jpg