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Syria Peace Plan in Disarray as Assad Backs Away from Troop Withdrawal
(Telegraph-UK) Adrian Blomfield - President Bashar al-Assad's government backed away from a pledge to complete a troop withdrawal before Tuesday's deadline as the opposition claimed more than 1,000 people had been killed since a UN-backed ceasefire deal was struck. Syria's foreign ministry claimed that a previous commitment to halt the fighting by April 10 had been "misinterpreted" by UN envoy Kofi Annan. Officials in Damascus announced that a withdrawal of government troops and tanks from population centers would only take place if rebel forces guaranteed in writing that they would lay down their arms. Annan accused Damascus of breaking its word.