MAJDAL SHAMS, Israel — The Druze are commonly believed to comprise less than 3 percent of the population of Syria. But with a history of military and political achievement much greater than their numbers, they have disproportionate importance.
A fragile cease-fire has taken hold in Syria, with regime forces halting widespread attacks on the opposition. There were reports of isolated gunfire and shelling, but the relative quiet represents the first brief lull in weeks of bloodshed, opposition activists said.
Activists expect protesters to return to the streets in "huge numbers" if the cease-fire holds, and said that even if tanks are withdrawn "shabiha," civilian militias aligned with the government, could retaliate.
International envoy Kofi Annan says that the Syrian government has assured him that it will respect the planned ceasefire with rebel forces, which is due to begin in under 24 hours.
DAMASCUS — Since nominally agreeing on March 26 to pull security forces out of urban areas by Tuesday, the government of President Bashar al-Assad has only escalated its assaults, killing more than 1,000.
Speaking from Hatay, Turkey, joint United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, who proposed the six-point peace plan, said "the plan is still on the table."
"They started to shoot at them. They were about four soldiers and each shot about 30 bullets,” a man named "Khaled" says if an execution in his town square.
During two weeks in Syria's Idlib province, reporter James Foley got a firsthand look at the battle between the Syrian government and the Free Syrian Army.
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