The Syrian government says it wants iron-clad assurances that insurgents will stop fighting before it implements a troop pullback agreed to by President Bashar al-Assad.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Sunday earlier reports that Damascus would pull its troops from cities and suburban areas by April 10 were "wrong."
He said U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has failed to submit "written guarantees regarding the acceptance of armed terrorist groups to halt violence and their readiness to lay down weapons."
Makdissi added that Syria will not allow a repeat of what happened during the league's observer mission to Syria in January, when he said the government pulled its forces back only to see rebels rearm and take control of "entire neighborhoods."
The U.N. issued a presidential statement last week raising the possibility of "further steps" if Syria does not implement Annan's six-point peace plan, which Damascus agreed to on March 25. The statement called on all parties, including the opposition, to stop armed violence within two days after the Syrian government fully complies with the measures.
Also Sunday, activists said Syrian troops continued to assault restive regions in the north and center of the country, killing and injuring dozens of people.
In the Idlib region, the military launched a major operation east of Jisr al-Shughour, as dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, backed by helicopters, bombed rebel positions in and around several villages.
A major Syrian offensive to retake large areas of Idlib province that had fallen under rebel control has killed or wounded hundreds of people in the last 10 days. Thousands of Syrians have fled to Turkey.
At least 100 people were reported killed across Syria on Saturday alone. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that tracks the violence in Syria, said about two-thirds of those who died were civilians and that many of the casualties were in the central village of Latamneh.
Rights groups and witnesses said military shelling and clashes between pro-government and opposition forces erupted in several regions.
Ausama Monajed, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Council, said the government is trying to crush dissent ahead of the April 10 deadline. She said the SNC backs the peace plan but doubts President Assad will abide by its provisions.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday sharply criticized the Assad government for its continued assault on civilians and said the cease-fire deadline "is not an excuse for continued killing."
The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began 13 months ago.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
