Syrian rebels reject new demands as ceasefire nears

Rebels in Syria have rejected a last-minute demand by the government, made just 48 hours ahead of a proposed ceasefire which now looks set to fail.

The rebels’ commander says they will abide by the UN-Arab League truce, but will not deal directly with Damascus while troops continue their assault.

The government on Sunday called for written guarantees from rebels to end attacks and a promise from foreign states not to fund them.

Violence has spiked ahead of the deal.

Activists said nearly 70 people were killed on Sunday, bringing the weekend death toll over the weekend to at least 180, most of them civilians.

Syria’s opposition say the new demands are a ploy by President Bashar al-Assad to derail the peace plan.
‘Committed to plan’

The Free Syrian Army’s Col Riyad al-Asaad told the Agence France-Presse news agency that his troops were “committed” to the plan, which was mediated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Posted by Editor on April 9, 2012. Filed under INTERNATIONAL NEWS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry