‘Settlement Agreement’ Displaces 150 Syrians to Al-Bab in the North

Buses carrying Syrians from the southern countryside of Quneitra to the North. (Horan News)
Buses carrying Syrians from the southern countryside of Quneitra to the North. (Horan News)
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‘Settlement Agreement’ Displaces 150 Syrians to Al-Bab in the North

Buses carrying Syrians from the southern countryside of Quneitra to the North. (Horan News)
Buses carrying Syrians from the southern countryside of Quneitra to the North. (Horan News)

About 150 people from Quneitra, southern Syria, are being displaced to areas under the control of Turkey's loyalists, according to an agreement reached between the opposition and regime and sponsored by the Russian air base in Hmeimim.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that three buses entered Um Batna in the central countryside of al-Quneitra, ahead of evacuating 30 individuals with their families to northern Syria.

The buses will head to al-Bab area in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo.

Local sources told the Observatory that the buses carried the individuals wanted by the authorities for their involvement in “terrorist activities”.

The convoy was accompanied by the Russian military police, headed to Abu al-Zendin crossing in al-Bab located in the Euphrates Shield areas, which are under the control of the opposition factions.

The agreement provides for the displacement of 30 wanted persons with their families, in exchange for ending the blockade, within five days.

The wanted persons asked Brigadier General Talal al-Ali in Sasa security branch to release two young men from their hometown, as part of the agreement, resulting in the immediate release of one of them. The second is set to be freed within few days.

The Horan Free League said that the displacement comes within the framework of the final agreement between the Sasa branch and the notables of the region.

A displaced person asserted that Iran played a role in the recent developments in Um Batna, and that the Iranian militias are working to empty the area of young men to tighten their control over the area near the Golan Heights.

The agreement was struck after an escalation earlier this month when gunmen attacked an Iranian military post in Doha village near the border.

The regime forces responded to the attack with artillery shelling from Tal al-Shaar, which led to the displacement of several people towards neighboring villages.

A blockade was imposed on Um Batna, and forces closed its entrances threatening to enter the village unless 30 wanted young men were handed over to the authorities.



France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
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France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)

France will host a meeting on Syria with Arab, Turkish, western partners in January, said France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday.

The meeting will be a follow-up to the one held in Jordan last week.

Speaking in parliament, Barrot added that reconstruction aid and the lifting of sanctions in Syria would depend on clear political and security commitments by the new authorities.

The new Syrian transition authorities will not be judged on words, but on actions over time, he stressed.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that the transition in Syria should be respectful of the rights of all communities in the country, the French presidency said after the leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday.

"They expressed their wish that a peaceful and representative political transition, in accordance with the principles of resolution 2254, respectful of the fundamental rights of all communities in Syria, be conducted as soon as possible," an Elysee statement said, referring to a United Nations Security Council resolution.  

Barrot added that fighting in northeastern Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobane must stop immediately.

France is working to find deal between Turks and Kurds in Syria’s northeast that meets interests of both sides, he revealed.

Macron made clear in his call with Erdogan that Kurdish Syrians needed to be fully-integrated in political transition process, continued the FM.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces must be part of the political transition process, he urged.