Syria wants guarantees to pull troops from cities

[dipsydoodle]

Source: Associated Press

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- The Syrian government on Sunday appeared to be backing out of a cease-fire deal aimed at ending the country's crisis, saying that it will not withdraw its troops from cities without written guarantees from armed groups that they also will lay down their weapons.

Last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad accepted a cease-fire agreement brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan calling for government forces to withdraw from towns and villages by Tuesday, and for the regime and rebels to lay down their arms by 6 a.m. Thursday. The truce is meant to pave the way for negotiations between the government and the opposition over Syria's political future.

But in a statement released Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said that earlier reports that Damascus would pull its troops from cities and their suburbs by Tuesday were "wrong."

Makdessi said that Annan has failed so far to submit to the Syrian government "written guarantees regarding the acceptance of armed terrorist groups to halt violence with all its forms and their readiness to lay down weapons."

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-04-08-04-55-51

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Does anyone really expect Syria to leave territory in the hands of armed insurgents?

The FSA has already refused to lay down its arms.

[Fool Count]

2. And for what purpose? So that FSA could take over those neighborhoods again

and establish a parallel administration there? So that the government would have to
bomb and storm them again? Wasn't there enough death and destruction in Syria?

[David__77]

6. Exactly. The West's recipes only prolong the conflict.

Many areas are returning to normalcy as they are secured by the government. People will increasingly tire of the insurgency, it always happens that way.

[pampango]

3. The "Assad" strategy for dealing with massive protests is something all dictators should learn.

1: When massive peaceful protests occur, repress them as them as violently as you can get away with - snipers, arrests, torture, etc.
2. This may work to quell the protests. If so, reward your military and security services and go back to being a dictator.
3. If #1 doesn't work right away and massive peaceful protests continue, keep up the repression. (You do have to come up with a strategy to keep the international community at bay.) Start talking about the presence of "criminal gangs" or "terrorists" among the protestors. There may not be any yet, but it's good to get the talking point out there for future use.
4. If your military and security forces continue to prove to be ineffective in suppressing dissent, don't worry. Keep up the armed repression. Eventually frustration will build up among factions of the protesters and some will become willing to resort to violence given the apparent futility of peaceful protest. Or outside groups will begin to take advantage of these frustrations.
5. At this point you can unleash your military and security forces to the full extent and hope you don't lose the civil war you have created. Tanks and artillery can be very effective against "terrorists" and "armed gangs" though the collateral damage (civilian deaths and injuries) they cause will cause you international PR problems that you will have to manage. Agree to negotiate. Every once in while agree to a ceasefire at some point in the future then, as that date approaches, figure out a way to back away from the agreement. If you are relying of firepower to stay in office, a ceasefire is the last thing you need.

I think this is a strategy that is workable in many repressive countries when populations get fed up with living with no rights.

[David__77]

4. That is entirely reasonable.

I thought the Syrian government would be foolish enough to allow the armed opposition to march forward unimpeded. Seems that they actually have some spine, much to the frustration of elites in Western capitals.

[Dokkie]

5. Agree

if he lets up, it will just give em more time to arm up and cause even more death and destruction to the people of Syria. Dont let up one bit, if these guys want to fight then give them hell. There should be no rest for the wicked people trying to hijack Syria for western powers.

[Daniel537]

9. Hooray for mass-murdering, terror-supporting dictators!!!

Viva Assad! Death to the counter-revolutionaries!

[leveymg]

7. 1865: British demand Union withdraw troops from Atlanta and Richmond

London demands that Washington lay down its arms, withdraw forces from Southern states.

This is essentially the same sort of demand.

[Daniel537]

8. Rule #1 for mass-murdering dictators.

Disarm the opposition and then claim you will do the same, and after the West stops paying attention go for the kill. Timeless tradition.

[pampango]

10. Syria FM (foreign minister) expected to visit Russia

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem was expected to arrive in Moscow on Monday and meet his Russian counterpart on Tuesday, the deadline for Syrian government forces to withdraw from cities and towns under mediator Kofi Annan's peace plan.

Russia has protected Assad by vetoing two U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning his government for bloodshed in which the United Nations says its forces have killed more than 9,000 people since a crackdown on protests began in March 2011.

But Russia has championed Annan's mission, backing two U.N. Security Council statements in its support, and has tried to distance itself from Assad lately in a sign it wants to retain diplomatic clout and prepare for any outcome.

Syria has given post-Soviet Russia its firmest foothold in the Middle East, buying billions of dollars' worth of weapons and hosting a maintenance and supply facility that is Russia's only warm-water naval port outside the former Soviet Union.

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