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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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14Aug15
Regional players can play positive role in halting Syrian violence
With the joint Iranian-Turkish mediation of a cease-fire in two flashpoint areas in Syria, the regional involvement in the course of actions in the war-torn country has become ever clearer, and proven to be efficient enough to bring the violence to a halt, even briefly, analysts say.
The regional and international role in influencing the course of events in the Syrian crisis has been widely perceived as one of the reasons behind the stalemated Syrian crisis.
But something new has happened that has pushed this regional role to be more obvious.
The Syrian army backed by the Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah has been on a shattering offensive against Sunni-led militants groups, mainly the Ahrar al-Sham Movement, in the city of Zabadani, west of the capital Damascus and near the Lebanese borders.
In retaliation to the government troops' offensive on Zabadani, several jihadi groups in the northwestern province of Idlib mounted an attack against the Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa, one of the few remaining government strongholds in Idlib.
The rebels in Idlib said they will continue attacking the Shiite towns until government troops halt their offensive on the Sunni-led insurgency in Zabadani, in a sign of how sectarian the Syrian crisis has become.
Last Wednesday, the Syrian army and armed militants entered into truce designed to usher a simultaneous 48-hour cease-fire in the city of Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, and the besieged Shiite towns of the northwestern province of Idlib, Kafraya and Foa.
Syrian officials and local reports said that Turkey and Iran helped broker the truce in Zabadani, as the Turks voiced the demands of the Ahrar al-Sham movement and the Iranians obviously covered the side of the Syrian government, in unprecedented mediation that reflected a new approach by regional players.
Mohammed Abu Qassem, secretary general of Syria's Tadamun (Solidarity) Party, who said he had negotiated the cease-fire on behalf of fighting groups inside Zabadani, said the truce was reached in a later stage between the Turkey-based political wing of the Ahrar al-Sham movement and Iran through negotiations in Turkey.
"The Syrian government was informed with deal and I as a mediator between the rebels and the government was informed as well," he was quoted by the pro-government al-Watan newspaper as saying.
He said the cease-fire was extended till Saturday morning, adding that negotiations on other terms and conditions are taking place to settle the situation in Zabadani and the Shiite towns.
The deal reportedly includes the government's consent on opening a way out of Zabadani for the rebels inside, who has been besieged by the Syrian army and Hezbollah fighters, who are about to take full control over Zabadani near the Lebanese borders.
In return, the rebels in Idlib will bring their assault on Foa and Kafraya to a halt.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group, said the truce was holding well on Friday.
The Lebanese Asafir newspaper said "the regional and international role has a clearer share in the settlement process and achieving understandings on ground."
"The equation of the Zabadani and Foa and Kafraya has imposed itself as a new formula, especially that it came in the context of the negotiations between Iran and Turkey," the paper said, "adding that the battles on all fronts have become linked in its field files and its declared regional connections and alliances."
Syrian analysts said the brief pause could be a module to build on and implement on a wider chunk of terrain, particularly with the recent political and diplomatic flurry in the region.
"I think that the regional role in the Syrian conflict has always been obvious, but the Zabadani truce came to cast a light on the regional role that has become declared and taking place on the table, after previous negotiations were taking place under the table," Maher Abdul-Salam, a Syrian analyst, told Xinhua.
"If the truce continues, it could be a gate for further negotiations for other places in Syria," he added.
Abdul-Salam said the influential regional countries is not only a part that could be conducive in bringing the violence in Syria to an end, "but I can say the regional players are the only force capable of ending the conflict in Syria."
If we take a look at the map of alliance, you see the government is backed by Iran, the Ahrar al-Sham movement is backed by Turkey, while the Jaish al-Islam, or the Islam Army, is backed by Saudi Arabia.
"The regional countries are capable of ending the whirl of violence, not only in Zabadani, but across Syria. There will be no solution in any area, no matter how big or small, without a regional consensus.
Still, analysts believe that negotiations couldn't be a choice when dealing with the Islamic State (IS) group, which, despite the party behind it, has broken the leash and become uncontrollable.
A united force in the face of the IS is the sole way to stem the momentum of this terror-labeled group.
[Source: By Hummam Sheikh Ali, Xinhua, Damascus, 14Aug15]
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 | This document has been published on 17Aug15 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |