Syrian state media has reported that they have reached a conditional ceasefire deal in the Idlib Province, a move which would end about three months of back and forth offensives between the military and al-Qaeda-dominated rebels.
The government says the ceasefire is conditioned on the rebels moving 20
kilometers back, away from the previously-established demilitarized
zone. It’s not clear from early reports if the deal explicitly includes
al-Qaeda, or just some of the other Islamist rebel groups.
That confusion could be a big problem, as historically leaving al-Qaeda
out of such deals has allowed opponents of the government to accuse them
of “violations,” since ceasefires kept with only signatory parties
don’t actually end all the fighting in the country.
That’s likely where this is going as well, with the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights saying there is “no sign of a ceasefire” yet, even
though it’s not clear when the deal is intended to go into effect.
Syria Reaches Ceasefire With Rebel-Dominated Idlib
Deal aims to end about three months of fighting
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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