No pullback without guarantees: Syria

DAMASCUS: The Syrian government will not withdraw its forces from Syrian protest hubs without "written guarantees" from the opposition, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

"To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence," it said.

On Thursday the UN Security Council formally endorsed April 10 as the deadline for Syrian troops and big guns to be withdrawn from cities, but Damascus said on Friday the number of "terrorist acts" has risen since the deal was reached with UN and Arab League envoy Annan.