The intelligence services of some Western countries opposed to the Syrian government, have visited Damascus recently to discuss security cooperation with the officials.

The intelligence services of some Western countries opposed to the Syrian government, have visited Damascus recently to discuss security cooperation with the officials, Syria's deputy foreign minister said in remarks broadcast on Wednesday.

"I will not specify (which countries) but many of them have visited Damascus, yes," the deputy minister, Fayssal Mikdad, said in an interview with the BBC.

Miqdad said that the contacts appeared to show a rift between the political and security authorities in some countries opposed to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Frankly speaking the spirit has changed," Mekdad added.

Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors, mainly the Saudi Arabia and Turkey, of orchestrating the conflict by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.

Today hundreds of armed groups, including terrorist takfiri brigades affiliated with Al-Qaeda, are battling both the national army and each other, complicating any efforts to reach a political settlement.