Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Recent military victories have severed rebel supply and retreat routes, allowing the regime to plan a major push to to crush divided opposition forces, a senior British security source told The Daily Telegraph.

“The Syrian opposition is doing badly and there is a risk of [further] defeats, although Assad cannot ultimately win,” the source said.

The Syrian National Coalition met in Istanbul on Thursday in a further attempt to create a unified opposition. But it is badly split over a choice of leader, a choice of interim prime minister, and whether or not to take part in a peace conference planned for Geneva some time next month. The conference would take place a year after a transition plan was first agreed by international powers in the Swiss capital, only to be ignored as civil war spread. The SNC acknowledged but showed no signs of accepting a proposal by the outgoing leader, Moaz al-Khatib, for Mr Assad to hand over power to his vice-president, who would oversee a 100-day transition.

The regime would also be unlikely to accept this deal at present, partly because it feels it has the diplomatic as well as military impetus. It retains the support of Russia at the UN, while Iran and Hizbollah are providing substantial armed assistance.