Syria rebels should match regime ceasefire call

“Now it is the armed opposition’s turn — those are the condition’s of (UN-Arab League envoy Kofi) Annan’s plan,” wrote Gatolov.
Syrian state television had earlier quoted a defence ministry official as saying that the army had “decided to stop these operations from Thursday morning.”
Annan’s plan calls for the pullback of Syrian troops from urban centres on Tuesday to be followed within 48 hours by a complete cessation of combat by all side.
That 48-hour period is to end at 6:00 am Damascus time today.
Meanwhile, “armed terrorist groups” assassinated an army brigadier yesterday in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, state-run SANA news agency reported.
Gunmen showered the brigadier with bullets while he was on his way to work in the Akraba area early yesterday. The attack also killed his driver.
The assault, one of a string of recent assassinations targeting Syrian army and security personnel, came just one day before the deadline given by the United Nations for the implementation of a ceasefire brokered by the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to solve the Syrian crisis politically and save the country from plunging into an all-out civil war.
The Syrian crisis has become more militarised as some civilians and alleged army defectors have taken up arms to defend themselves against the government’s alleged bloody crackdown on opposition protesters.
Syria is facing growing international pressure to end the violence, as the United Nations said more than 9 000 people have been killed over the yearlong crisis. The Syrian government blames the unrest in Syria on armed groups working out a foreign conspiracy. It said 6 044 people, including 2 566 soldiers and policemen, have been killed by armed groups in the country. — AFP/Xinhua.