Agreement reached to end siege on Syria’s Daraa

A checkpoint of the government forces in Daraa - Circulated
A checkpoint of the government forces in Daraa - Circulated

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, the Central Committee in Daraa reached a final agreement with Syrian government forces to end the siege imposed on the neighborhoods of Daraa al-Balad.

The agreement was reached with the presence of the head of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate Husam Louqa, head of the Military Security Branch Louay al-Ali, officers of the Russian Military Police, and a representative of the Command of the Eighth Brigade of the Russian-backed Fifth Corps.

The agreement includes the opening of all the roads leading to the neighborhoods of Daraa al-Balad, al-Manshiya, Sajna, al-Sad and the Camp, the most important of which is the Sajna al-Balad Road supervised by local factions led by the so-called Mustafa al-Masalma, known as al-Kassem.

The agreement should be implemented within three days, starting from Sunday, in return for the delivery of 60 individual weapons obtained by the Eighth Brigade as the first stage of the agreement.

The second stage includes making a settlement agreement for 90 citizens from the Daraa al-Balad neighborhood wanted by the government.

Those citizens were not involved in the settlements of 2018. They will obtain cards that allow them to perform tasks and control three military posts in Daraa al-Balad.

The military posts will be established in the post office, the Directorate of Electricity and on al-Sad neighborhood road, as the citizens of the neighborhoods are the ones entitled to protect those posts, according to the agreement.

Moreover, the agreement stipulated that citizens control the local committees of the Military Security inside Daraa al-Mahata, who arrest the residents of the neighborhood and implement the law.

It also mandated the disarmament of groups affiliated with the security branches, such as al-Kassem groups, who used their weapons for personal goals, in addition to the withdrawal of all military reinforcements in the vicinity of Daraa al-Balad and return life the way it used to be before the siege on June 24.