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picking away
through a battle-scarred streets were at the front line in a war-torn Damascus
suburb
president oxides National Defence Forces don't want to show their faces
fearing reprisals for taking part in the operation were about to see
a defection by rebels who they claim want to switch sides
out of the shadows they emerge weapons handed over without a shot being fired
stripped to the waist to show they're not wearing suicide vests
their phones are handed over
a valuable source of intelligence on the hundreds of fighters who've been
besieged here for more than a year
these images a great propaganda for the regime that wants to show its a
Roddick the stalemate in some parts of the capital
this isn't the first defection
in this area since June commode course is hearsay 20
rebels have surrendered across the front lines evidence they say
that they are weakening the more I love the rebels and slowly turning the tide
they claim to be part of the Free Syrian Army
saying food shortages in infighting wore them down
panel novella a new he says we were wrong
with fed up there was fighting between the groups inside
they were stealing things from each other the leaders take
all the food from the civilians house lawn
he says they've already lost this war
they came with almost nothing
just the contents if their pockets but the forces here
know plenty about them already they have hundreds of photos that the obtained
from rebel mobile phones
showing them posing with their weapons and with this man
allege Saudi extremist Abu all day their flag spare
Islamist slogans some are unbearably young
mobile al capp heat gave up the fight a few days ago
use to brandish a rocket launcher against
Assad's forces but now he's disillusioned with the revolution
he says has been hijacked by Islamists horrible but I
had had a realignment law Islamists have turned the country upside down
is this the freedom there are asking for the rebel strongholds a rich uncle were
ordinary people sacrificed women are *** & Shop saluted
the Islamist talk about religion this is not a religion
I living in peace but the work of that peace
is a distant memory here these defections perhaps a sign of how
fragmented the rebels have become
but it will take more than this to end Syria's stalemate
and few think this week's talks in geneva will have any bearing on the
military situation
here on the front line the
on