Tense Calm in Syria as Rebel Ultimatum Expires

Rebel Army Leader Demands UN Declare End to Ceasefire

Friday in Syria saw the usual protests, but relative calm as the rebel Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) demand for the UN to declare the ceasefire in the country over went unanswered, leaving many to wonder what is to come.

FSA leader Col. Rial Assad insisted that he wanted to see the UN immediately declare the ceasefire dead “so that we would be free to carry out any military operation against the regime.”

FSA officials have promised a major escalation once the ceasefire is declared dead, but since they have been launching near daily attacks throughout the period of the ceasefire it isn’t clear just how much of an escalation could be expected.

The US and other Western nations have been keen to see the ceasefire declared a failure so they can push for UN backing for an invasion of Syria. France was so eager for this that officials were actually declaring the ceasefire “broken” before it had even formally begun.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.