"If the media and military support of terrorism is stopped...I am convinced Homs will go back to what it was like within four months," Governor Ahmad Munir Mohammad said.

While rebel and government forces keep their positions around town, an unusual meeting takes place between a parliamentarian and rebels.

The parliamentarian, Eyad Sulaiman, is an Alawite -- the same sect of Islam that President Bashar al-Assad belongs to. But he's accepted by the mostly Sunni members of the Free Syrian Army.

The men agree on almost everything: They don't want a sectarian rift in Syria, they don't want foreign jihadist fighters entering the country, and they say government thugs must be stopped from harassing the population here.

Sulaiman says the local cease-fire in Tal Kalakh might work elsewhere.

"We have already tried to apply this concept in areas of Damascus ... so this can be applied anywhere in Syria, as long as there is no interference by other countries," the parliamentarian said.

Still, both sides acknowledge, the fighting could reignite anytime.

Abu Udey a rebel commander who accuses regime troops of continued provocations, said: "We don't kill people as a hobby... the security forces in the area don't want a truce."

And there's one fundamental mission the rebels will not back down from.

"Our goal is to bring down the regime," Al Abbrash said. "It's impossible to change that -- impossible to back down from that goal."

Abu Udey says the men in his city were forced to arm themselves after peaceful demonstrations were met by violence from regime forces.

"If we achieve what we want -- [to] bring down the regime through peaceful means -- we are ready to lay down our arms for peace," Abu Udey said.