Syrian government threatens to execute 21 Free Army rebels within 24 hours

Damascus - The Free Syrian Army, which waged a rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad's regime since June, has said that the government forces have threatened to execute 21 captured defectors within 24 hours.

According to the Telegraph, the army said it had received information that 21 of their number would face a firing squad on Monday.

The rebels said they would retaliate against government forces and militiamen loyal to the regime in Homs, an opposition stronghold, if the executions take place.

"I have a personal message for the army: If the army executes these men, there will be a very harsh retaliation against them here in Homs," the paper quoted Abdul-Razaq Tlas, the commander of one of two rebel battalions in the city, as saying.

The Free Syrian Army is largely made up of former army soldiers who have defected in anger at the government's brutal suppression of unarmed civilian protests.

They had launched a series of attacks against government forces in and around Deraa, the southern city where the uprising against Assad's 11-year rule first began in March.

Last month, the Free Syrian Army ambushed a convoy of armoured personnel carriers in Deraa, setting some on fire.

Earlier in December, in its bloodiest attack yet, it killed 27 soldiers at three checkpoints in the province.

According to the paper, it is during this attack that the 21 rebels said to be facing execution are believed to have been captured.