Syria's President Bashar al-Assad admitted Wednesday that his security forces had made "some mistakes" in battling protests, as he met with several U.N. Security Council members.

The deputy foreign ministers from the three emerging powers of Brazil, India and South Africa met Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Damascus to call for an "immediate end to all violence" in Syria, a statement said.

The United States Wednesday again stopped short of explicitly calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave power, but said it would help his people achieve "dignity and freedom."

Washington further stiffened its stance, after a crackdown on protesters which has killed 2,000 people, by unveiling new sanctions on the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria, the country's largest commercial bank.

Turkey's ambassador to Damascus visited Syrian's flashpoint protest hub of Hama, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday, as Syrian army vehicles left the town.

"Our ambassador went to Hama and said that the tanks, security forces had started to leave Hama. This is highly important to show that our initiatives had positive results," Erdogan said in televised remarks, addressing his party members in Ankara.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad promised on Tuesday an unceasing battle against the "terrorist groups" that his regime has accused of responsibility for the deadly violence that has wracked Syria since March.

"We will not waver in our pursuit of terrorist groups," Assad told visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, according to state news agency SANA.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday appointed a new defense minister, state television reported, amid mounting Arab condemnation of nearly five months of deadly crackdown on dissent.

"President Assad has signed a decree naming General Daoud Rajha as the head of the defense ministry," the television report said.

The top Sunni Muslim authority on Monday called on Syrian authorities to immediately end" the bloodshed, saying that the crackdown on protesters is a "tragedy" that has gone too far.

"Al-Azhar was patient for a long time and avoided talking about the situation in Syria because of its sensitive nature ... but the situation has gone too far and there is no other solution but to put an end to this Arab and Islamic tragedy," the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, said in a statement.

The group of hackers known as Anonymous has claimed taking over the Syrian government Ministry of Defense website publishing on it a message in support for the Syrian people.

Visitors to the Syrian military department's website have been greeted with the Anonymous logo and images and links to videos of dead protesters hours after activists said on Sunday that security forces backed by tanks killed scores of civilians in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour and the central town of Hula.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Syria on Tuesday with the message that Ankara "has run out of patience" with the ongoing violence, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"We have reached the end of our patience and that's why I am sending the foreign minister to Syria on Tuesday," Erdogan was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Saturday that elections to a new parliament will be held by year's end, as Syria's regime faces international pressure over its deadly crackdown on protests.

"Syria will hold free and transparent elections that will give birth to a parliament representing the aspirations of the Syrian people," Muallem said in a meeting with foreign ambassadors posted to Damascus.

Turkey said Friday the Syrian regime's deadly crackdown on civilian protestors is "unacceptable" and "illegitimate", Anatolia news agency reported.

"The developments in Syria as I emphasized before are unacceptable," Anatolia quoted Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying.