Syria will not pull out its troops from cities without written guarantees from "armed terrorist groups" that they will also stop the violence, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, dpa reported.
The ministry said that international envoy Kofi Annan "did not present to the Syrian government any written guarantees from armed terrorist groups that they will stop the violence and lay down their weapons, as well as guarantees that the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey will stop financing and arming the armed groups."
Annan's office said last week that President Bashar al-Assad accepted a UN-brokered ceasefire deal due to go into effect on Tuesday.
Syria said that Annan has made a "wrong interpretation" of the Syrian stance.