Damascus residents stand guard outside shops and homes armed with light weapons often supplied by Syria's new rulers, eager to fill the security vacuum that followed the recent takeover.
Bread lines have become a feature of the new Syria, posing a critical challenge to the country's rebel rulers who ousted President Bashar al-Assad last month.
Lebanon's prime minister is to visit Damascus "soon", the information minister said on Tuesday -- the first such visit since Islamist-led rebels seized power in Syria last month.