Syrian govt claims troop withdrawal

Loud explosions reverberated across the central Syrian city of Homs and clashes were reported in several areas across the country on Wednesday, just hours after the government said it has started to withdraw troops from some cities in compliance with an international cease-fire plan.

A Syrian government official said on Tuesday evening that troops had started pulling out from some calm cities and heading back to their bases, a week ahead of a deadline to implement UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's truce plan.

"Forces began withdrawing to outside calm cities and are returning to their bases, while in tense areas, they are pulling out to the outskirts," the government official told The Associated Press in Damascus without saying when the withdrawal began. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

President Bashar al-Assad agreed just days ago to an April 10 deadline to implement Annan's plan. It requires government forces to withdraw from towns and cities and observe a cease-fire. Rebel fighters are to immediately follow by ceasing violence.

"There is no sign of any withdrawal or calm in Homs," opposition figure Mohammed Saleh said in Homs. "The situation is just as bad as it has been for the past few months."

Opposition activists had charged earlier that the government was racing to crush opponents ahead of the cease-fire deadline by carrying out intense raids, arrests and shelling on Tuesday.

The opposition has blasted Annan's plan as too little, too late and are particularly angry that it does not call for Assad to leave power - the central demand of the uprising. They suspect Assad will manipulate the plan and use it to stall for time while his forces continue to crack down.

The Syrian government has not commented publicly on the April 10 deadline. An Arab League effort that included sending in monitors to promote a cease-fire collapsed in violence in November.

Army too strong

Syria's opposition will never defeat Assad's army even if it is "armed to the teeth", Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"It is clear as day that even if the Syrian opposition is armed to the teeth, it will not be able to defeat the government's army," Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying while on a visit to the ex-Soviet nation of Azerbaijan.

AP+AFP