Syrian leader Ahmed Sharaa said on Sunday the country was confronting attempts to drag it into a civil war, as violent clashes continue.In a video speech, Sharaa said "remnants of the former regime" had no choice but to surrender immediately.

The United States and Russia have asked the United Nations Security Council to meet behind closed doors on Monday over the escalating violence in Syria, diplomats said on Sunday.

Syria's leader vowed on Sunday to hunt down the perpetrators of violent clashes pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country's new Islamist rulers and said he would hold to account anyone who overstepped their authority.The clashes, which a war monitoring group said had already killed over 1,000 people, mostly civilians, continued for a fourth day in Assad's coastal heartland.In a speech broadcast on national television and posted on social media, Ahmed Sharaa, whose rebel movement toppled Assad in December, accused Assad loyalists and foreign powers that he did not name of trying to foment unrest.