• Country/entity

  Syria
  

• Region

  Middle East and North Africa
  

• Agreement name

  Ceasefire Faylaq al-Rahman (Free Syrian Army - FSA)

• Date

  21 Aug 2017

• Agreement status

  Unilateral document

• Interim arrangement

  Yes

• Agreement/conflict level

  Intrastate/local conflict ( Syrian Conflicts (1948 - ) (1976 - 2005) (2011 - ) )

• Stage

  Ceasefire/related

• Conflict nature

  Government

• Peace process

  Syrian Local Agreements

• Parties

  Faylaq al-Rahman

• Third parties

  -

• Description

  Unilateral statement by Faylaq al-Rahman agreeing to a ceasefire on 18/08/2017 following three days of negotiations with the Russians. The Agreement "includes breaking the siege of Eastern Ghouta, while keeping to the political process."

• Agreement document

  SY_170821_Ceasefire_Faylaq al-Rahman_EN.pdf | Download PDF

• Agreement document (original language)

  SY_170821_Ceasefire_Faylaq al-Rahman_AR.pdf | Download PDF

Local agreement properties

• Process type

  Formal structured process
  

• Rationale

  -> Link to national level; external support mechanism; culture of signing A regional mechanism supported the negotiation of the agreement that came as the result of a negotiation held in Geneva. Moreover, Russia – one of the signing parties – has quickly assumed a central role in the negotiations between Bashar al-Assad government and the opposition factions, aiming at bringing a definitive end to the Syrian conflict.

• Is there a documented link to a national peace process?

  Yes

• Link to national process: articulated rationale

  It seems that the agreement is directly linked to the national peace process. The document refers to the Russian federation as “one of the guarantor countries for the operation of stability” in Syria. Furthermore, both parties agree to respect the “principle of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic, the unity of its lands and its regional peace” that lies at the centre of negotiation to bring an end to the Syrian conflict. The signing parties also agree to respect “the necessity to end hostilities within a comprehensive solution in Syria”.

• Name of Locale

  al-Jobeh, Eastern Ghouta

• Nature Of Locale

  Region

• GPS Lat/Long (DD)

  33.905353, 36.479501

• Participant type

  Local armed group
  

• Mediator, facilitator or similar

  Mediator or similar referred to

  Mediator (references)

  Russia seems to have facilitated the negotiations between the signing parties.

  Type of mediator/facilitator/similar

  Central state actor

Local issues

The Free Syrian Army Al-Rahman Brigade Headquarters Statement No.

08/76

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, The Merciful

The al-Rahman Brigade confronted the aggressive campaign on Jubar and Eastern Ghouta, first and foremost thanks to God and secondly [due to] to the legendary resilience which our heroes have shown on the battlefront.

At the same time, we were in favour of a ceasefire and alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people, and we announced from the beginning [that we would welcome] that, and [so] our three-day negotiations with the representatives of the Russian side resulted in the agreement of a ceasefire that will enter into force on the 18/06/2018 at 9pm Damascus time.

This agreement includes breaking the siege of Eastern Ghouta, while keeping to the political process.

This [political process] was signed 16/08/2017 in Geneva between the FSA in Jubar and Eastern Ghouta represented by al-Rahman Brigade, and between representatives of the Russian Federation.

The contents of this agreement will be made public at a press conference on Monday 21/08/2017 during which the al-Rahman Brigade will discuss the details of the agreement in full.

We in the Free Syrian Army – al-Rahman Brigade, stress to the great Syrian people that the principles of the revolution and our own goals remain with us in all our political efforts and our military confrontations, and we will persevere in our revolution until the realisation of a free and noble Syria.