Under cover of darkness a small group of men wearing the uniform of the army they deserted scramble from Lebanon back into Syria, trying to avoid detection by the soldiers they once served with. "We need to monitor their movements so we can prepare to attack them", says Abu Ali, whispering as he tries to avoid the attention of the loyalist Syrian soldiers standing guard at a base less than 100 metres away. Dressing in the trademark leather jacket of the Syrian secret police, Abu Ali, a FSA commander, speaks about the torture and the spying he played a part in as a former member of Syria's Military Intelligence and about how he balked at orders to gun down his neighbours as they protested peacefully for an end to Assad's rule."The regime is a like a criminal gang", he says. After eight months of peaceful protests failed to dislodge the dictator, the FSA says only force can bring down the Assad regime. They are now calling for the international community, including the EU and US, to arm them and for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Syria. "Our strategy is to fight a guerrilla war against Assad's troops", says Quteiba, a second FSA commander.

Produced By Skye Boat Films