Daraa militants lay out terms for overall agreement in southwest Syria

By Editor On Jul 4, 2018

Rebel factions in Daraa province and the Russian Reconciliation Center are holding a meeting in the next few hours to continue negotiations with the objective to reach an agreement on the disputed province.

Sources declared that yesterday’s talks yielded no results expect offering a 24-hour time limit to take a final decision.

However, pro-rebel media outlets revealed the conditions stipulated by rebel groups to concluded an inclusive agreement. The conditions include:

• Immediate halt of all combat actions in the south by both sides

• The Syrian Army forces shall not take over the rebel-held areas, all SAA forces shall withdraw to their positions prior to the last military campaign,

• Gradually handing over all heavy weapons, in tandem with the return of civilians to their towns and villages,

• Civic government institutions shall be operational again under the management of the locals where all employees return to their work with raising the Syrian national flag,

• Opening up all roads linking Daraa to Damascus and Suwayda for civilian and economic purposes,

• Forming a central force armed with medium weapons to support the local force, as well as maintain security in each area,

• The central force shall take over Nassib crossing border and is responsible for providing whatever it takes to secure the road from Nassib to Kherbet Ghazaleh town,

• Nassib crossing border shall be run by civil employees under the protection of Russian Military Police, whereby the ‘military road’ linking Nassib to Suwayda shall be under the Syrian Army control,

• Implementing terms agreed on in Astana regarding the release of detainees and kidnapped, the exchange of bodies between the two warring parties, settling the status of defected soldiers in a way that guarantee their safety,

• The settlements points shall be geographically distributed as needed under an agreed-on mechanism,

• The agreement shall act as a roadmap for the status quo until a country-level solution is reached,

• Russia acts as the guarantor of this agreement.