Agreement on Local Councils between Tribes and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)

  • Country/entity
    Syria
  • Region
    Middle East and North Africa
  • Agreement name
    Agreement on Local Councils between Tribes and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)
  • Date
    23 Jul 2017
  • Agreement status
    Multiparty signed/agreed
  • Interim arrangement
    Yes
  • Agreement/conflict level
    Intrastate/local conflict ( Syrian Conflicts (1948 - ) (1976 - 2005) (2011 - ) )
  • Stage
    Framework/substantive - partial
  • Conflict nature
    Inter-group
  • Peace process
    Syrian Local Agreements
  • Parties
    Idlib Tribes - six signatories, but all illegible.
    [Ostensibly with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham organisation as statement is in response to their call]
  • Third parties
    -
  • Description
    Statement issued in response the statement, "The Ongoing Revolution" issued by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham on establishing a civil administration to rule areas under opposition control, the Idlib tribes issue a pre-negotiation document outlining (1) the principle: supporting the formation of civil administration and (2) the process: by establishing a conference between military and civil forces.

Local agreement properties

  • Process type
    Isolated example
  • Rationale
    -> Local issues only; no external support mechanism; no culture of signing The agreement cannot be placed within the context of a systematic process of local agreements. There were no established mechanisms to support the negotiation. Moreover, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has a Salafist ideology; it opposes the rule of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and rejects the idea of a national negotiation to solve the conflict.
  • Is there a documented link to a national peace process?
    No
  • Link to national process: articulated rationale
    No link to the national peace process in Syria is mentioned in the agreement, neither it can be inferred from further research. First, the agreement does not involve local governance actors; and the signing parties themselves are not official state representative. Second, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rejects the national peace process, as it would maintain Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government in power. Yet, the agreement is related to multiple local level processes in Idlib governorate in July 2017.
  • Name of Locale
    NA
  • Nature Of Locale
    Region
  • GPS Lat/Long (DD)
    35.931901, 36.635741
  • Participant type
    Domestic religious organisation/leader or other elder
  • Mediator, facilitator or similar
    No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

  • Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture)
    Page 1: In the Name of Allah the Merciful

    Page 1: Praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon the most honoured of messengers, and upon all his family and companions, and after.
  • Grievance List
    The agreement addresses the call from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham to establish a local administration in the areas under the control of the opposition factions.

    Page 1,
    Due to the urgent need to consolidate the disputes and heal the wounds on the fields of Syria and to continue and preserve the revolution [...]
    [In the statement], we saw a blessing step regarding the establishment of a civil administration to rule the liberated areas. It will be involved in all legal, revolutionary, political, tribal and civil affairs. They will also possess the military force of the resistance to the regime of Ward Sayaleh and of liberating the rest of Syria.
  • Cattle rustling/banditry

    No specific mention.

  • Social cover

    No specific mention.

In the Name of Allah the Merciful

Praise be to Allah the Lord of the worlds and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon the most honoured of messengers, and upon all his family and companions, and after.

Due to the urgent need to consolidate the disputes and heal the wounds on the fields of Syria and to continue and preserve the revolution, following the call of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham [Organisation for the Liberation of the Levant] in its statement titled “The Ongoing Revolution”, issued on 23/7/2017.

[In the statement], we saw a blessing step regarding the establishment of a civil administration to rule the liberated areas.

It will be involved in all legal, revolutionary, political, tribal and civil affairs.

They will also possess the military force of the resistance to the regime of Ward Sayaleh and of liberating the rest of Syria.

We declare the following:

1- We support this project which gives our people a chance to administer the liberated areas beyond military force. [

We also support] its implications.

2- We request that a conference should be hold, at which all the revolutionary and civil force will participate.

We also announce our willingness to participate at it.

We say to our people:

Try to have the taste of victory after years spent making the highest and most precious sacrifices.

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