Rebels balk on plans for Syria

• Tweet

CAIRO, July 2 (UPI) -- Rebel forces fighting against Syrian forces said they wouldn't hold a dialogue with the "killer gangs" of President Bashar Assad.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a statement from Geneva stating widespread support for democratic transition in Syria. The plan, she said, envisions an end to the violence and a post-Assad unity government in Damascus.

Delegates at the Geneva meeting called for a transitional unity government that would be decided on by mutual consent.

Syrian opposition groups in Cairo, however, said they objected to the principles of the Geneva declaration.

"We refuse all kinds of dialogue and negotiation with the killer gangs ... and we will not allow anyone to impose on Syria and its people the Russian and Iranian agendas," al-Arabiya quoted a statement by the Free Syrian Army as saying.

The international community has failed to mount coordinated action to counter the 16-month conflict in Syria. The United Nations estimates at least 10,000 people have died as a result of the fighting, which Damascus blames on domestic terrorists.

Syrian Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Mohammad al-Shaar called on law enforcement personnel to take on terrorists and saboteurs in the country, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reports.

Damascus is suspected of committing war crimes against its people during ongoing fighting.