Smoke rises from burned cars after a huge explosion shook Sabaa Bahrat Square in Damascus, Syria (AP/SANA)

The UN's peace envoy to Syria has warned there is 'no end in sight' to the civil war (AP)

A Syrian woman stands amid the ruins of her house which was destroyed in an airstrike by government warplanes a few days earlier, killing 11 (AP)

Flames and smoke rising from burned cars after a huge explosion that shook central Damascus (AP/SANA)

A Syrian villager, Abu Ibrahim, 73, writes the name of his granddaughter on her grave after she was killed in an airstrike by the government (AP)

A woman walks through the mud in a refugee camp in Syria (AP)

Muddy boots belonging to Syrian refugees are seen at the entrance of a tent in a refugee camp near Azaz, north of Aleppo province, Syria (AP)

A Syrian woman sits on the ruins of her house following an air strike in Aleppo (AP)

An Assad supporter holds up a picture of the president (AP)

A video image shows an explosion during heavy fighting between rebels and Syrian government forces in the Barzeh district of Damascus (AP)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrians inspecting a damaged car at the scene of a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrians inspecting a damaged car at the scene of a car bomb exploded in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, April. 29, 2013

Rebels and troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad have fought at two air bases in northern Syria (AP)

Free Syrian Army fighter puts up a FSA flag after heavy clashes at a military academy besieged by the rebels in Tal Sheer (AP)

The damage caused by an explosion at the Syrian interior ministry in Damascus (AP)

Trucks pass a mountain of garbage in Aleppo, where there has been heavy fighting and shelling between the Syrian Government and rebels (AP)

Syrian rebels on the attack in Aleppo (AP)

Free Syrian Army members fighting in the city of Aleppo (AP)

Rebel fighters in Syria run for cover through smoke from an explosion (AP)

Syrian rebels have declared the airport in Damascus a legitimate target (AP)

A Free Syrian Army fighter aims his weapon at government forces during clashes in Aleppo (AP)

This citizen journalism image shows members of the free Syrian Army hiding behind scrap metal during an attack against Syrian government forces (AP Photo)

A Free Syrian Army fighter holds his weapon as he prepares himself for advance, close to a military base, near Azaz (AP)

Syrian soldiers prepare an anti-aircraft gun near field of wheat close to a radar position in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa valley (AP)

The Vatican has confirmed the brutal beheading of a Catholic priest by Syrian rebels.

A disturbingly graphic video showing the priest being decapitated by jihadists was posted online.

It has now been confirmed that Fr Francois Murad (49) was butchered and his killers apparently used a kitchen knife for the beheading.

According to a report from Catholic Online, Fr Murad was beheaded in northern Syria on June 23 while setting up a monastery in Gassanieh.

Forces from Jabhat al-Nusra – which is fighting in Syria to oust President Bashar Assad – apparently accused Fr Murad of working with the regime.

An extremely graphic video from Live Leak reposted by Catholic Online showed amateur footage of Fr Murad's execution as dozens of spectators chanted.

In the grainy film footage, a man believed to be Fr Murad is first seen sitting with his hands bound before being beheaded with a simple kitchen knife.

Onlookers, chanting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Great"), can be seen in the footage photographing and capturing the horrific scene.

The statement from the Vatican said that the group had the backing of al-Qaida.

Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa told the news agency that the monastery of St Anthony, which was "the only safe area" for Fr Murad and several other Christians, was attacked when Fr Murad tried to resist the militants.

He said: "Unfortunately Syria has now become a battleground not only between Syrian forces, but between Arab countries and the international community. And those paying the price are the poor, the young and Christians."

Belfast Telegraph