New West Daraa Town Joins Russian Roadmap

The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)
The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)
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New West Daraa Town Joins Russian Roadmap

The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)
The Russian military police in front of the settlement center in the town of al-Shajarah in the Yarmouk basin. (Daraa 24)

Syrian regime forces and Russian military forces have entered a new town, al-Shajarah, west of Daraa in southern Syria. They carried out inspections of homes and combed surrounding farmlands.

Officers from the Syrian army’s 16th Brigade were present at the inspections alongside local leaders and citizens.

A deal sponsored by Russia with the central negotiating committee in the Daraa governorate has allowed regime forces and Russian military police to enter the town and set up a center for settling the status of wanted civilians and military personnel in the area.

The center was established on Sunday with locals coming in from al-Shajarah and nearby villages and towns, including Abdeen, Beit Ara, Nafaa, al-Qusayr, Jamla, Abdin, and Koya, to settle their status and turn in their individual weapons in compliance with the signed agreement.

Now that the settlement center has been set up in al-Shajarah, the Russian police and the Syrian regime would have successfully implemented the new deal.

A few days ago, they had finished implementing the first part of the deal which included other towns such as Hayt, Jallin, Masaken Jalin, and Saham al-Golan in the Yarmouk basin region.

A member of the Central Negotiating Committee in the western countryside of Daraa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the security committee of the Syrian regime in Daraa informed it and dignitaries from the towns of Hayt and Saham al-Golan on Sunday to hand over more light and medium weapons from the area.

Regime forces argued that the number of weapons handed over in the first day of the establishment of the settlement center in the town of Saham al-Golan on Sunday was not enough.

On Monday, more light and medium weapons were delivered, according to some media outlets.

Syrian officers from the army’s 16th Brigade on Sunday and Monday toured the towns of Jallin, Saham al-Golan, and Hayt, accompanied by the Russian police. They left the towns without establishing stations or posting points in the area.



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.