Next hours critical as Syrians talk cease-fire

(CNN) Could Wednesday's proposed cease-fire signal the end of Syria's nearly two-year civil war, or is it just more talk?

The Syrian regime has agreed "in principle" to a cease-fire, the United Nations' special envoy to the country said Wednesday.

But rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad are skeptical. They want to know: Is this a case of second verse, same as the first?

A cease-fire in April barely lasted a day before bodies started falling again.

This time, the proposal to lay down weapons will cover the Eid al-Adha holiday, U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said.

Starting Friday and lasting several days, Muslims around the world will celebrate the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

In his office in Cairo on Wednesday, Brahimi said he'd just returned from a trip to the Syrian capital, Damascus, where commanders told him they "agree on the principle of a cease-fire."

But there's been no formal statement from al-Assad's office. Brahimi gave no details on the cease-fire proposal.

The Free Syrian Army, the loosely organized group of men fighting al-Assad's well-armed forces, haven't given a united statement that they would agree.

"We don't think the regime is serious with agreeing to the cease-fire, since more than 200 people are martyred every day by the government's forces," self-described rebel deputy commander Malek Kurdi said.

At midmorning Wednesday in New York, the U.N. Security Council was discussing the matter with Brahimi via teleconference. The Chinese ambassador expressed support, saying, "Even if it's a 1% chance of a cease-fire, we should get a 100% effort" to make it work.

In a written statement, U.N. human rights chief, Navi Pillay, said the international community must take urgent measures to protect Syria's people.

But on the ground, people are still dying. On Wednesday, 80 people were killed across the country.

A car bomb exploded in Damascus, and casualties were reported, according to government-run media. Another car bomb detonated in Quntari, killing regime soldiers. In the city of Douma, at least 15 people were killed.

Rebels are blaming government forces; government forces are blaming rebels for the attack.

It's very difficult to get an accurate description of what's happening inside Syria because the government has blocked foreign journalists.

More than 32,000 people have been killed in Syria since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011, activists say. Al-Assad's forces cracked down hard on protesters, and the country descended into civil war.

In April, the Syrian government agreed to a six-point peace plan. That plan included releasing detainees and letting people have humanitarian aid. It promised to allow international media into Syria and a clause about respecting the rights of demonstrators. The Syrian government also vowed to remove heavy weapons and troops from residential neighborhoods.

A young man in Homs who has kept a blog of the violence in his neighborhood wrote that he was hopeful. He said it seemed that the calm on his street meant al-Assad was keeping his end of the bargain. Tanks withdrew.

But it was merely hours before U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said Syria wasn't in full compliance.

Things went downhill from there.

Violence was reported the same day, and the agreement collapsed within days. Both sides accused the other of failing to keep their promise.

That the weekend, al-Assad's forces began firing again. Shells fell on Aleppo, the nation's second-largest city. Hundreds of people were killed, opposition activists said.

All this plays into pessimism over the current proposal.

"Based on our long experience in dealing with Assad('s) barbaric regime, we know that the Syrian government is just buying time and playing on words," said George Sabra, spokesman for the Syrian National Council, which speaks for rebels fighting al-Assad.

"The whole world knows that the Syrian regime cannot be trusted and doesn't have any credibility in fulfilling any promise that they make to anyone," said Sabra, who is based in Paris. "The crisis is too complicated in Syria, and the Assad regime is trying a diversion."

CNN asked Sabra to name the conditions that the rebels would put down their arms. He didn't name them but instead said he's suspicious that the government is dangling a cease-fire in hopes of attacking the rebels when they are less prepared.