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Syrian Regime, Opposition Exchange Prisoners

A photo provided by Syrian opposition factions in northern Syria shows five prisoners they received as part of an exchange deal with Damascus.
A photo provided by Syrian opposition factions in northern Syria shows five prisoners they received as part of an exchange deal with Damascus.
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Syrian Regime, Opposition Exchange Prisoners

A photo provided by Syrian opposition factions in northern Syria shows five prisoners they received as part of an exchange deal with Damascus.
A photo provided by Syrian opposition factions in northern Syria shows five prisoners they received as part of an exchange deal with Damascus.

The Ankara-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and Damascus exchanged a number of prisoners on Monday under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross and guarantees from Turkey and Russia.

Activists in the city of Al-Bab, which is nestled 40 km northeast of Aleppo, confirmed that the SNA conducted a new prisoner exchange operation with the Syrian regime forces at the Abu Al-Zandin crossing.

Abu Al-Zandin separates the spheres of influence of the Turkey-backed opposition and the Russia-backed regime forces.

Five detainees were released from each side, according to local sources.

The swap took place after negotiations between the two parties that lasted for more than three months, an opposition source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The last exchange took place on December 12, 2021, during which five prisoners were released from each side at the same crossing.

In other news, new military reinforcements have been deployed to contact lines in northern Aleppo.

Backup arrived for both the SNA, Iranian militias, and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Reinforcements are being sent in anticipation of a new Turkish military operation against the SDF.

Iran sent reinforcements to two Shiite settlements northwest of Aleppo.

Observers believe that the reinforcements Iran is pushing to the contact lines with the opposition factions and the Turkish forces north of Aleppo are a clear and direct intervention.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.