Sayyed Nasrallah announces 6-month truce in three Syrian towns
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – Lebanon’s Shia movement Hezbollah, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has said that a six-month truce has been agreed for the rebel-held town of Zabadani and two Shia towns in the northwest.
Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told the Al-Manar television on Friday that the deal was reached under the auspices of the UN with mediation from Iran.
Nasrallah said the deal will entail the “evacuation of armed and wounded men from Zabadani to Idlib province in exchange for the evacuation of 10,000 civilians from the villages of Fuaa and Kafraya to zones controlled by the Assad government”.
“There will be no more fighters in Zabadani,” Nasrallah said, indicating that the Syrian army could enter the remaining rebel-held areas and take control.
He said that civilians living in and around Zabadani who did not want to stay could also go to Idlib safely.
On Thursday, UN spokeswoman Jessy Chahine told the AFP news agency there had been “positive developments in the talks, which were facilitated by the UN,” but added that it was up to the parties themselves to say if there was a deal to announce.
Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the truce was reached between rebel fighters, including Ahrar al-Sham, and pro-government forces and their Hezbollah allies.
Short truces agreed previously between the warring parties have often been broken by rebels.
A Syrian source close to the talks told AFP on Thursday that the accord would see the evacuation of some 10,000 civilians from besieged Fuaa and Kafraya on Saturday and Sunday.
They will be driven out in Red Cross vehicles to government-controlled areas.
In exchange, about 500 rebel fighters will withdraw from Zabadani and head for Idlib province.
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