As part of their push to see Syria's President Assad step down, Britain and the US are now thought to be considering giving him clemency. That's if he agrees to attend an upcoming international conference on a transition of power in Syria. RT's Peter Oliver is following the story for us.
Meanwhile, a number of CIA officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, distributing weapons between the Syrian rebels to fight against the regime. That's according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers. And in Syria itself, people are often forced to join the armed rebellion by threats and intimidation - as Maria Finoshina has found out.