Lay down your arms or no deal, says Syria

Free Syrian Army rejects request that armed opposition groups give written guarantees that they will halt attacks on Assad's troops.

BEIRUT // Syria said yesterday it would not withdraw its troops until it received "written guarantees" that rebel forces will lay down their weapons as part of a peace plan due to take effect tomorrow.

The military pullback and ceasefire are part of a plan brokered by Kofi Annan, United Nations-Arab League special envoy to Syria, and agreed to by the Syrian president,Bashar Al Assad.

Under the plan, Syria should begin withdrawing troops and heavy weaponry from population centres by tomorrow, ahead of a ceasefire by both sides to start 48 hours later.

The truce was supposed to lay the groundwork for talks between the government and the opposition to end the year-long crisis that has killed thousands.

But the new requirement for written assurances that armed opposition groups would halt attacks was made yesterday in a statement by Syria's foreign ministry.

Jihad Makdissi, a ministry official, said that while the pullback would happen, reports that the withdrawal would take place from towns and cities tomorrow was a "wrong explanation".

"He [Mr Annan] has not delivered until now written guarantees regarding the approval of terrorist armed groups to end violence and readiness to lay down its weapons," he said.

The Syrian government also wants confirmation that Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey would "stop funding and arming terrorist groups", Mr Makdissi added.

He added that while Syria has already taken steps to "show good faith" for Mr Annan's plan, the government would not give armed groups an opportunity to regroup and rearm.

The commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) yesterday rejected the government's demands.

The FSA will adhere to Mr Annan's plan, Col Riad Al Asaad told the Associated Press, but the group would "not give guarantees" to a regime it does not recognise.

Meanwhile, the truce has also been jeopardised by escalating violence in Syria, with scores more deaths reported in recent days.

Mr Annan, a former UN secretary-general, yesterday described the intensifying assaults as "unacceptable".

"As we get closer to the Tuesday April 10 April, I remind the Syrian government of the need for full implementation of its commitments and stress that the present escalation of violence is unacceptable," Mr Annan said.

"I am in constant contact with the Syrian government and ask all states with influence on the parties to use it now to ensure an end to the bloodshed and the beginning of dialogue."

The continuing violence has left more than 9,000 people killed in the past year, with more deaths reported every day. The Al Assad regime has said that "armed terrorist groups" have killed at least 3,000 of its security forces.

With the ceasefire deadline fast approaching, fighting continued across the country yesterday. The Local Coordination Committees, a network of Syrian activists, reported at least 37 dead, including six children.

The group reported that a family of five were killed in Hama, after the city came under heavy shelling. These reports could not be independently verified.

More heavy fighting yesterday was also reported in the Homs neighbourhood of Khaldiyeh.

"Mortar rounds are falling like rain," activist Tarek Badrakhan told the Associated Press via Skype as explosions could be heard in the background.

The planned ceasefire was "giving the regime permission to kill and commit massacres", he said, adding that people in Khaldiyeh were unable to bury all of the dead because of continued shelling.

"We might have to bury them in public gardens," he said.

* With additional reporting by Reuters and the Associated Press