Assad forcing us to wage guerrilla war: Rebels

Syria's rebels have been forced to abandon efforts to hold territory in major cities and towns after a series of battlefield defeats, senior opposition commanders have conceded for the first time.

Reeling from the loss of key opposition strongholds in the cities of Homs, Deraa and Idlib to government troops, the rebels have been left with no alternative but to recalibrate their strategy by waging a fragmented guerrilla offensive.

The first acknowledgment of the extent of the setbacks opposition fighters have experienced over the past six weeks came as Kofi Annan, the United Nations and Arab League special envoy, announced that the Syrian government had promised to begin implementing his peace plan next Tuesday. Appealing for Western and Arab patience, Annan told the UN Security Council that, although he had made no progress yet in halting the bloodshed, a breakthrough could be imminent.

President Bashar al-Assad, he reported, had agreed to abide by a timetable to begin the withdrawal of government troops and tanks from population centres on April 10, with a full ceasefire following 48 hours later.

But many in Syria's opposition, as well as in the West, have questioned Assad's sincerity, particularly after saying last week that he expected the rebels to take the first step by disarming, a demand that runs counter to the Annan plan.

Since then he has come under pressure from Russia, Syria's most powerful ally, to reverse course. "The Syrian government must take the first step and start withdrawal in line with Kofi Annan's plan," Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said yesterday.

Yet with his domestic and international adversaries in disarray,Assad may be hoping that he can translate recent military successes into total victory.

The opposition's ability to hold territory was seen as crucial if they were to succeed in overthrowing Assad. But the rebels have wilted under the government's superior firepower, demonstrated in a string of remorseless artillery offensives since the beginning of February.

The Free Syrian Army concedes it has no choice but to resort to guerrilla warfare. "After what happened in Deraa, in Homs, in Idlib, the Free Syrian Army is not focusing on holding cities any more," said the commander of one rebel brigade, speaking from a safe house in northern Lebanon. "We are now adopting guerilla tactics; we have watchers who spy on checkpoints and attack."

The shift in tactics is also an acknowledgment that public support for the armed opposition's cause had been eroded by the government's policy of indiscriminately shelling villages where rebel fighters had taken refuge.

The rebel commander, who identified himself as Abu Suleiman, said that civilians in one border village where he and his men had conducted frequent operations had begged them to leave, fearing that government forces would destroy the town if they did not.

Despite being a tactic forced on the rebels by necessity, Suleiman claimed that the guerrilla campaign would still be extremely effective because it would make the Syrian capital its chief target.

"The plan is hit-and-run attacks against the military in Damascus," he said. "We have to cut off the head of the snake. The FSA is tightening the noose to reach al-Abbasyeen Square in the centre of Damascus. The best fighters from across the country are moving to the capital to join the resistance there."