A Syrian rebel commander and a group of fighters told a conference for the opposition in Damascus had decided to abandon the fight against President Bashar al-Assad and return to the regular army.

A Syrian rebel commander and a group of fighters told a conference for the opposition in Damascus had decided to abandon the fight against President Bashar al-Assad and return to the regular army.

 "We have decided to return to the army and cooperate with the Ministry of National Reconciliation," said Captain Khaled Abdel Rahman al-Zamel, speaking at a conference organized by opposition groups.

He was accompanied by around 10 other militants, none of whom spoke out.

"The solution in Syria does not lie in the use of weapons or violence or explosions or the killing of innocents," said Zamel.

"We are all Syrians, we reject a revolution that starts with the shedding of blood. We refuse to hold weapons against our Syrian brothers".

Delegates applauded Zamel as he called on other armed groups to abandon the revolt.
"The road is open," said Zamel, who was identified as the head of the so-called Free Syrian Army's leadership in the south of the country.