Assad says Syria accepts Annan's plan as Belgium closes embassy in Damascus

Syria's president promised to do all he can to ensure U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for his country succeeds but demanded that Annan secure a commitment from his opponents to halt violence even as rebels carried out a string of bold attacks, killing two army colonels and kidnapping a high-ranking pilot.            

Bashar Assad's condition of an express promise from the opposition to stop attacks could complicate Annan's attempts to bring an end to more than a year of violence that the U.N. says has killed more than 9,000 people.            

The opposition has cautiously welcomed Annan's six-point plan, which calls for Assad's regime to implement a cease-fire. But the opposition is also deeply skeptical Assad will carry it out, believing he has accepted the plan just to win time while his forces continue their assault to crush the uprising. Armed rebels are unlikely to stop fighting unless offensives by security forces halt.          

The diplomatic moves came as Arab leaders met Thursday in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in their annual summit and were expected to issue a resolution backing Annan's plan. In speeches at the summit, many leaders made clear they felt the burden was on Assad's regime to halt the fighting.

In the field, Syrian activists said that a government offensive in northern Syria during which troops overran a major opposition stronghold has left behind scenes of destruction, with corpses in the streets, homes burned to the ground and shops that have been pillaged and looted.     

The reports of 40 people dead in Saraqeb between Sunday and Wednesday come as Arab leaders meeting in Baghdad remain deeply divided over how to help solve Syria's yearlong crisis. President Bashar Assad said he has accepted a six-point U.N. plan to resolve the conflict, including a cease-fire, but the opposition is deeply skeptical that he will carry it out.       

The fall of Saraqeb, a large town on the main highway linking the northern city of Aleppo with the Syrian capital, was the latest in a string of opposition strongholds to fall to ruthless assaults by the better-equipped Syrian military. Most of those strongholds and areas around them have since seen renewed flare-ups in violence, reflecting the resiliency of the uprising and the military's inability to firmly put down the revolt.       

At least four civilians, four soldiers and five army defectors were killed in the central town of Qalaat al-Madiq and nearby villages, activists said, as troops advanced and closed in on rebels.      

Internationally, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the BRICS emerging countries agreed, during Thursday’s summit, that dialogue is the one and only means to halt violence in Syria and solve the Iranian nuclear program crisis.  

For its part, Belgium announced that it shut down its embassy in Damascus due to the deplorable security situation in Damascus and in protest of the government’s use of violence against civilians.