Report: ISIS, Syrian rebels reach ceasefire
By Rebecca Shabad
September 13, 2014 "ICH" - "The Hill" - Amid reports that IS is regrouping ahead of expected attacks, an alliance of rebel groups bashed out a “non-aggression” with IS pact on Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that moderate and Islamist rebels had signed a ceasefire deal for the first time in a suburb of the capital Damascus.
“The two parties will respect a truce until a final solution is found, and they promise not to attack each other because they consider the principal enemy” to be Assad’s government and his forces.
News site Orient Net published a list of the 11 clauses to the ceasefire agreement, which aims to halt the fierce clashes that have broken out between rebels and IS in and around Damascus over the past 45 days.
The site reported that al-Nusra Front - the militant group that on Thursday released 42 UN peacekeepers captured in the Golan Heights, had mediated between the two sides.
Charles Lister, an analyst at the Brookings Institute, reported that the alliance on the rebel side was made up of four distinct groups, among them the US-backed Syria Revolutionary Front.
Islamic State originally fought alongside the rebels but soon began attacking rival groups, before officially splitting with the Nusra Front earlier this year. Since then the two sides have been clashing frequently, allowing Assad's forces to regain momentum. Moderate Syrian rebels and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) reportedly struck a cease-fire deal on Friday, according to a group that has monitored Syria's civil war. The groups agreed to a non-aggression pact in which they promised not to attack each other.
The development could influence members of Congress to vote “no” on an authorization to train and equip moderate rebel groups as early as next week. The White House has requested the authorization, but some lawmakers have already been skeptical the opposition groups can be trusted.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the United Kingdom, said the groups reached the agreement in a suburb of Damascus, Syria’s capital.
Under the deal, "the two parties will respect a truce until a final solution is found and they promise not to attack each other because they consider the principal enemy to be the Nussayri regime,” Agence France-Presse reported.Nussayri is a negative term for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite regime.
This comes as House lawmakers mull over the option to provide Obama with the authorization to train and arm the Syrian rebels. A vote on a short-term spending bill was delayed this week after the White House asked House Republicans to attach the authorization to the bill.
It’s possible GOP leaders might decide to hold a separate vote on the authorization to equip the rebels.
Some Republicans and Democrats have long called on the administration arm the rebels, but other lawmakers in both parties are afraid the weapons could wind up in the wrong hands.
Free Syrian Army will not join US-led coalition against IS
By MEE staff
September 13, 2014 "ICH" - "MEE" - - The Free Syrian Army has announced that it will not sign up to the US-led coalition to destroy Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria.The group’s founder, Colonel Riad al-Asaad, stressed that toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is their priority, and that they will not join forces with US-led efforts without a guarantee that the US is committed to his overthrow.
"If they want to see the Free Syrian Army on their side, they should give assurances on toppling the Assad regime and on a plan including revolutionary principles."
The announcement appears to be reversing an earlier satement on Thursday by the National Coalition opposition, the Free Syrian Army’s political wing, which said it was ready to work with the coalition against IS.
Saying they had "long called for this action", the coalition called on US politicians to authorise the training and equipping of the Free Syrian Army "as soon as possible".
The Free Syrian Army, mostly composed of military personnel who have defected from Assad’s armed forces, had already been engaged in battles against IS militants.
The details of the truce agreement, published by Arabic news site Orient Net, showed that the two sides had agreed not to target each other.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that IS and the SRF had agreed that Assad’s government and the forces allied to it are the principal enemy.
However, there were reports on Saturday that SRF fighters in Idblib province, over 300 kilometres north-east of Damascus, had killed two would-be IS suicide bombers.
News site el-Dorar alleged that SRF fighters had foiled an attempt by four IS fighters to blow up a car packed with explosives in Jebel al-Zawiyeh in the south of the province.
Two IS fighters were killed in the thwarted explosion, while the other two were killed by the SRF.
According to el-Dorar, their bodies were then strung up in a public square "as a warning to others."
The opposition group issued a statement on Saturday disowning Kamel Lubnani, who was dismissed in early 2014, for travelling to Israel last week to attend a counter-terrorism conference.
His visit was described by the coalition as having "no relation to the stance of the Syrian people, the coalition or the Syrian opposition."
Israel on Wednesday praised the US efforts to "take action and form a coalition against the Islamic State".
A Western diplomat revealed on Monday that Israel has already provided satellite imagery and other intelligence in support of US-led airstrikes against IS in Iraq.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation monitoring Syria’s ongoing war, said on Saturday that forces allied to President Assad had lost control over the Syrian side of the Golan Heights in its entirety.
The rebels include al-Nusra Front, who on Thursday released a group of UN peacekeepers who had been working in the demilitarised zone between Syrian-held territory and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Analysts say that Israel is alarmed by having Syrian rebels on its doorstep, after enjoying a relative calm for over 45 years on its borders with Syria when they were under the control of Bashar al-Assad, his father Hazfez before him.
© Middle East Eye 2014 - all rights reserved
"If they want to see the Free Syrian Army on their side, they should give assurances on toppling the Assad regime and on a plan including revolutionary principles."
The announcement appears to be reversing an earlier satement on Thursday by the National Coalition opposition, the Free Syrian Army’s political wing, which said it was ready to work with the coalition against IS.
Saying they had "long called for this action", the coalition called on US politicians to authorise the training and equipping of the Free Syrian Army "as soon as possible".
The Free Syrian Army, mostly composed of military personnel who have defected from Assad’s armed forces, had already been engaged in battles against IS militants.
IS-rebels truce breaks down?
The announcement comes a day after a ceasefire was signed between another rebel group, the Syrian Revolutionary Front (SRF), and IS fighters in Damascus.The details of the truce agreement, published by Arabic news site Orient Net, showed that the two sides had agreed not to target each other.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that IS and the SRF had agreed that Assad’s government and the forces allied to it are the principal enemy.
However, there were reports on Saturday that SRF fighters in Idblib province, over 300 kilometres north-east of Damascus, had killed two would-be IS suicide bombers.
News site el-Dorar alleged that SRF fighters had foiled an attempt by four IS fighters to blow up a car packed with explosives in Jebel al-Zawiyeh in the south of the province.
Two IS fighters were killed in the thwarted explosion, while the other two were killed by the SRF.
According to el-Dorar, their bodies were then strung up in a public square "as a warning to others."
Anti-Israel stance
Meanwhile, the National Coalition opposition reiterated its rejection of any co-operation with Israel in the fight against IS.The opposition group issued a statement on Saturday disowning Kamel Lubnani, who was dismissed in early 2014, for travelling to Israel last week to attend a counter-terrorism conference.
His visit was described by the coalition as having "no relation to the stance of the Syrian people, the coalition or the Syrian opposition."
Israel on Wednesday praised the US efforts to "take action and form a coalition against the Islamic State".
A Western diplomat revealed on Monday that Israel has already provided satellite imagery and other intelligence in support of US-led airstrikes against IS in Iraq.
Rebels seize Syrian-held Golan
On the Syrian side of the border fence in the Golan Heights, rebels announced that they had established control over the whole area.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation monitoring Syria’s ongoing war, said on Saturday that forces allied to President Assad had lost control over the Syrian side of the Golan Heights in its entirety.
The rebels include al-Nusra Front, who on Thursday released a group of UN peacekeepers who had been working in the demilitarised zone between Syrian-held territory and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Analysts say that Israel is alarmed by having Syrian rebels on its doorstep, after enjoying a relative calm for over 45 years on its borders with Syria when they were under the control of Bashar al-Assad, his father Hazfez before him.
© Middle East Eye 2014 - all rights reserved
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