More Syrian Generals Defect to Opposition

More military leaders are defecting in Syria: Reuters reports that four high-ranking officers jumped ship and reached a deserters' camp in Turkey. One rebel leader says a total of seven brigadier generals have now joined the opposition. The AP also notes four military defections, though the ranks are different. Regardless, rebels are trumpeting the developments as further proof that Bashar al-Assad's grip on power is unraveling. (Civilian leaders are defecting, too.)

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition has called UN envoy Kofi Annan's efforts for peace a disappointment. Annan has called on the rebels and government to meet for talks, but opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun tells the AP, "These kind of comments are disappointing and do not give a lot of hope for people in Syria being massacred every day. It feels like we are watching the same movie being repeated over and over again." Adds an activist: "It seems (Annan) lives on Mars." (More Syria stories.)