- Three Syrian security foces are killed after clashes with defectors, an opposition group says
- An Iraqi tribal leader says he feels obilgated to help arm Syrian rebels
- Another says he supports the revolution but is hosting demonstrations instead
- The U.N. now estimates that more than 9,000 people have died in the Syrian crisis
(CNN) -- A day after news broke that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accepted a plan to forge peace, fresh clashes broke out once again across Syria on Wednesday, opposition activists said.
Three members of the Syrian security forces were killed and four defecting soldiers were injured from intense clashes at an entrance to the western city of Rastan, which security forces have been trying to storm, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group.
And fierce fighting erupted between the Syrian security forces and a group of defectors in the southern Daraa province, the observatory said. The group said clashes began after an army soldier threatened residents in the town of Busr el-Harir to hand over the group of defectors or face a military operation.
Opposition activists have said Busr el-Harir has endured shortages of food and medicine since the Syrian army surrounded the town weeks ago.
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Homs slowly becoming a ghost town The reports of violence come after al-Assad accepted a plan laid out by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan to help end the bloodshed.
"Mr. Annan views this as an important initial step," Ahmad Fawzi, Annan's spokesman said Tuesday.
Fawzi stressed that "implementation will be key, not only for the Syrian people, who are caught in the middle of this tragedy, but also for the region and the international community as a whole."
The plan calls for:
• "an inclusive Syrian-led political process" to address grass-roots grievances.
• a commitment to halt fighting and forge a U.N.-supervised halt of violence by the government and opposition groups.
• timely humanitarian aid.
• speeding up the release of "arbitrarily detained" people, including those engaged in "peaceful political activities."
• ensuring "freedom of movement" for journalists.
• respecting peaceful demonstrations and "freedom of association."
Key diplomats, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said Tuesday that the Syrian government's acceptance of the plan must be more than lip service.
"Given (President Bashar) al-Assad's history of overpromising and underdelivering, that commitment must now be matched by immediate actions," Clinton said. "We will judge Assad's sincerity and seriousness by what he does, not what he says."
While the world waits to see whether the peace plan will actually take effect, regional leaders are preparing for Thursday's Arab League summit in Baghdad, where Syria is expected to be a hot topic.
The leaders of Arab League countries except Syria, which has been suspended from the group over the clampdown, are expected to attend the summit, which Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari described as "the most important event for Iraq."
Some Sunni tribal leaders in Iraq, such as Sheik Abu Ahmed, say they feel obligated to send arms and fighters to help Syrian rebels as they watch the Syrian regime hammer their fellow Sunni tribesmen.
"You've all seen what the Syrian government is doing. It's time to return our debt. It's our duty," Ahmed said.
He said Syrian members of the al-Dulaim tribe came to help when U.S. forces began their offensive against the Sunni stronghold of Falluja in 2004. He claimed he has sent more than $300,000, machine guns, AK-47s and about 30 fighters into the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor.
Al-Assad visits besieged Homs area 
Syrians flee to Turkey 
Defector says Syrian rebels united But not all Sunni tribal leaders in Iraq believe in arming the Syrian rebels. Some say they want to help, but don't want to see a violent civil war like the one that devastated Iraq.
"We support the Syrian revolution," Sheik Al Hammad Al-Shalal. But instead of giving weapons to the Syrian opposition, he and other leaders hold demonstrations.
On Monday, Syrian forces shot and killed two British freelance journalists near the border with Turkey, opposition activists and the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Nasim Intriri and Walid Balidi, British journalists of Algerian descent, were working on a documentary, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria.
"Their deaths are yet another illustration of the grave dangers that journalists face in reporting a conflict that the Syrian government has sought to hide from the world," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, coordinator of the committee's Middle East and North Africa program.
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it has heard reports and working to confirm information.
The Syrian government routinely blames the vaguely defined "armed terrorist groups" for violence in the country, while most reports from inside Syria suggest the government is slaughtering civilians in an attempt to wipe out dissidents.
Syrian media said Tuesday that al-Assad visited the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr, an anti-government bastion pummeled by government security forces. For weeks, opposition activists have reported constant shelling in parts of the city.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency called al-Assad's appearance "an inspection field visit" and said the president met residents who were "agonized by heavily armed terrorist groups."
The president urged speedy reconstruction of buildings and rehabilitation of the infrastructure. He met with some soldiers and police and praised the sacrifices and efforts of the "guardians of the homeland."
"I can't make this visit without stopping to see your accomplishments," he said. "It is your duty to defend every Syrian citizen. God willing, everything will return back to normal."
CNN rejects Syrian claims of collaboration as 'ridiculous'
But Lt. Riad Ahmed of the rebel Free Syrian Army said Syrian authorities had banned men ages 18 to 42 from traveling abroad until they serve their compulsory military duty.
The ban "shows that the regime is preparing for the worst, and they are suffering from heavy losses from our operations and the defections all across the nation," said Lt. Riad Ahmed of the rebel Free Syrian Army. "We keep asking our brothers in the armed forces to abandon the barracks and join the revolution all over Syria, because it is a matter of time before the regime collapses."
Al-Assad's regime did not immediately issue a statement confirming or denying such a travel ban.
The United Nations estimates that the Syrian conflict has killed more than 9,000 people; opposition activists have put the toll at more than 10,000.
CNN's Arwa Damon, Amir Ahmed, Samira Said, Elise Labott and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.
