A fourth member of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle has died following a bomb attack earlier this week.
Syrian state television said a funeral ceremony for the defence minister, his deputy - Mr Assad's brother-in-law - and a senior general was being held today in Damascus.
It later said that Syria's intelligence chief Hisham Bekhtyar died this morning of wounds sustained in the same attack.
Meanwhile, Russia's envoy to Paris added to a sense that Mr Assad's days were numbered by saying the Syrian president had accepted he would have to leave power.
Syrian state television flashed a government statement soon afterwards saying the comments were "completely devoid of truth".
Mr Assad has not spoken since Wednesday's attack on a meeting of his high command and only appeared yesterday to appoint a new defence minister to replace one of the assassinated men.
The UNHCR says that up to 30,000 Syrian refugees may have fled to Lebanon in the past two days, while UN officials heard reports that banks in Damascus had run out of cash.
The president’s forces are said to be fighting to recapture border posts and parts of Damascus, where clashes are continuing for a sixth day.
Rebels from elsewhere in Syria have poured into the capital for what they say is the final battle for Damascus.
"The regime is going through its last days," Abdelbasset Seida, the leader of the main Syrian opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council, said in Rome, predicting a possible dramatic escalation in violence.
Clashes were fiercest overnight in the sprawling Mezzeh district, where rebels appear to be sustaining attacks on many security compounds located there, residents said.
State television said Syrian forces had cleared the central district of Midan of "mercenaries and terrorists".
Opposition activists and rebels sources confirmed today that they had withdrawn after coming under heavy bombardment.
"It is a tactical withdrawal. We are still in Damascus," Abu Omar, a rebel commander, said by telephone.
Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified as state authorities have barred international journalists and rights groups
UNSC votes to extend mission in Syria
The UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend its monitoring mission in Syria for 30 days, keeping alive a key part of international envoy Kofi Annan's faltering plan to end the 16-month conflict.
The 15-member council approved a measure put forward by Britain to extend the monitors' mandate, which had been set to expire at midnight (5AM Irish time Saturday).
Russia, which with China vetoed an earlier resolution which would have opened the door to sanctions on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, dropped its objections to the British proposal after it was broadened to require both government forces and rebel fighters to take steps to halt the violence.
Both the United States and Britain described the new resolution as a last chance for the observers.
The UN Syria mission has up to 300 unarmed military observers whose role has been to monitor a failed 12 April ceasefire in Syria.
Most of their monitoring activity was suspended on 16 June due to increased risk from rising violence.
