- Title: Syria ready for open battle in province where it has let rebels gather
- Date: 5th January 2017
- Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JANUARY 4, 2017) (REUTERS) ALI HAIDAR, SYRIA'S MINISTER OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AFFAIRS, AT HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALI HAIDAR, SYRIA'S MINISTER OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AFFAIRS, SAYING: "The open battlefield in the future will be Idlib and the Syrian state is clear in its policy when it said it will not forgo any patch of Syria, and I think Idlib is one of the coming hot areas where the Syrian state will take its responsibility in fighting terrorism. Hence if there was not a deal that leads to the exit of foreign fighters and cuts off the roads of rebels supplies, the choice will be to go for an open battlefield in these areas of Idlib." HAIDAR DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALI HAIDAR, SYRIA'S MINISTER OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AFFAIRS, SAYING: "The problem remains to be Douma, because everyone knows that there is an armed group in Douma linked with Saudi Arabia and so far Saudi Arabia is out of any deal that doesn't include military action." HAIDAR DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALI HAIDAR, SYRIA'S MINISTER OF NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AFFAIRS, SAYING: "So far Astana is an expression of positive intentions, and these intentions have not been translated into real actions. It is still early to judge Astana as actions. We can judge the intentions and we are with the positive intentions." HAIDAR AND JOURNALISTS TALKING DURING INTERVIEW
- Embargoed: 20th January 2017 22:43
- Keywords: Syria Assad rebels war fight Idlib
- Location: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- City: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
- Country: Syria
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XT2JPF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Syria's government is ready for an "open battle" with insurgents in the northwestern province of Idlib where thousands of rebels have been sent under ceasefire deals that are helping President Bashar al-Assad recover areas lost in the civil war.
Ali Haidar, Syria's Minister of National Reconciliation Affairs, who has been responsible for negotiating local deals, said he expected more accords in coming months to send thousands of fighters to Idlib from areas near Damascus and south of it, as the army advances.
But in an interview in Damascus, he said the state could not allow Idlib to remain an insurgent stronghold. Unless there was an international deal that addressed the situation, "then the other option is to go to an open battle with them," he said.
"The open battlefield in the future will be Idlib and the Syrian state is clear in its policy when it said it will not forgo any patch of Syria, and I think Idlib is one of the coming hot areas where the Syrian state will take its responsibility in fighting terrorism. Hence if there was not a deal that leads to the exit of foreign fighters and cuts off the roads of rebels supplies, the choice will be to go for an open battlefield in these areas of Idlib," Haidar told Reuters, saying foreign fighters must leave and rebel supply lines via Turkey cut off.
The government has given rebels safe passage to Idlib under numerous local deals that amount to rebels surrendering areas they held, typically after years of siege and military pressure.
The government says Syrians who wish to stay can do so as life returns to normal after a ceasefire. The opposition says the deals amount to forced demographic change to drive out Assad's opponents. The government denies this accusation.
Idlib province at the border with Turkey is almost entirely controlled by rebel groups fighting to topple Assad, including powerful Islamist factions such as Ahrar al-Sham and Fateh al-Sham, formally known as the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.
Around Damascus, the pace of local deals has picked up in recent months, notably since rebels agreed to leave Daraya southwest of the capital in August, also for Idlib some 300 km (200 miles) away. The government has provided the buses to transport rebels and their families to Idlib.
Many of the 35,000 people - fighters and civilians - evacuated from eastern Aleppo after the defeat of rebels there in December have also ended up in Idlib. Their evacuation was brokered by Russia and Turkey, not under a local deal.
The local agreements reflect the struggle facing insurgents who, outgunned by the Russian air force, Iranian-backed militias, and the Syrian army, suffered their biggest defeat yet with the loss of eastern Aleppo.
Rebels still hold territory in areas near Damascus, including Douma in the Eastern Ghouta area.
Haidar said efforts to conclude a reconciliation deal there had yet to yield a result, blaming Saudi Arabia which wields influence over the main rebel group there, Jaish al-Islam.
Saudi Arabia has been one of the main backers of the insurgency against Assad, along with Qatar, Turkey and the United States.
"The problem remains specifically Douma, because everyone knows that there is an armed group in Douma linked with Saudi Arabia and so far Saudi Arabia is out of any deal that does not include military action," Haidar said.
Haidar accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of trying to obstruct the Astana meeting. Turkey, on the other hand, was "searching for an exit far removed from its previous Saudi and Qatari allies," he said.
"So far Astana is an expression of positive intentions, and these intentions have not been translated into real actions. It is still early to judge Astana as actions. We can judge the intentions and we are with the positive intentions," he said, though it was possible that a first meeting could still be held there at the end of the month. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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