Abu Mufaa, commander of a rebel unit called The Righteous Special Forces Brigade, was in a hurry.

He was just about to bury two of his men, killed in the latest skirmish with government forces outside Damascus.

But, speaking on a faint mobile phone line, he had time to deliver a pithy verdict on the ceasefire proposed by the UN for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha: "On the ground, it means nothing".