Free Syrian Army commander says special rebel units have been tasked with securing the depots if the regime falls.

Al Jazeera, 7 Jan 2013 – The rebel Free Syrian Army says it has formed special units to secure the country’s chemical weapons.
The issue of what could come of Syria’s cache of chemical weapons amid the instability and fighting in the country has prompted an international debate, with Russia and Israel weighing on where and how the weapons are being stored.
“We have issued orders to special units to monitor the sites of the chemical weapons,” Rebel Brigadier General Salim Idris told Al Jazeera.
“They provide us with intelligence on any movement at those sites and as soon as the regime falls, we have units tasked with securing the depots.”
Idris said the rebels are ready to see the conflict to the end, despite limited military resources.
“The main reason behind our slow progress and the stalemate on the frontline is the lack of ammunition,” he said.
“We badly need tactical weapons. We are dealing with a regime that bombs civilians and villages using war planes, TNT barrels, and medium range scud missiles.”

Assad initiative condemned
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced disappointment with President Bashar al-Assad’s rejection of peace talks with his enemies made in a weekend speech that his opponents described as a renewed declaration of war.
Ban was “disappointed that the speech by President Bashar al-Assad on January 6 does not contribute to a solution that could end the terrible suffering of the Syrian people,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said of the president’s Sunday speech in Damascus.
“The speech rejected the most important element of the Geneva Communique of 30 June 2012, namely a political transition and the establishment of a transitional governing body with full executive powers that would include representatives of all Syrians.”
The US also condemned the speech, saying his peace plan was detached from reality.
Assad laid out his vision for ending the conflict, saying Syria’s enemies will “go to hell”. He also warned foreign countries to stay out of Syria.
The US state department dismissed the speech as a meaningless attempt to retain power in his war-torn country and urged Assad to step down.
His speech “is yet another attempt by the regime to cling to power and does nothing to advance the Syrian people’s goal of a political transition,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
“His initiative is detached from reality, undermines the efforts of Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi, and would only allow the regime to further perpetuate its bloody oppression of the Syrian people,” she said
The uprising against Assad has become a civil war that the UN says has killed 60,000 people since the start in March, 2011.