Syria derided UN chief Ban Ki-moon as biased and called his comments "outrageous" after he blamed the regime for widespread cease-fire violations the latest sign of trouble for an international peace plan many expect to fail.

In new fighting on Saturday, activists said regime forces battled army defectors near President Bashar Assad's summer palace in a coastal village and shelled a Damascus suburb in pursuit of gunmen.

State media said government troops foiled an attempt by armed men in rubber boats to land on Syria's coast, the first reported attempt by rebels to infiltrate from the sea.

The regime's verbal attack on the UN secretary general raised new concerns that Assad is playing for time to avoid compliance with a plan that could eventually force him out of office.

[Source:AP]