The University of EdinburghPeace Agreements DatabasePeaceRep

Untitled Agreement [between Suqur al-Sham Brigades and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)]

  • Country/entity

    Syria
  • Region

    Middle East and North Africa
  • Agreement name

    Untitled Agreement [between Suqur al-Sham Brigades and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)]
  • Date

    6 Jan 2014
  • Agreement status

    Multiparty signed/agreed
  • Interim arrangement

    Yes
  • Stage

    Ceasefire/related
  • Conflict nature

    Inter-group
  • Peace process

    Syrian Local Agreements
  • Parties

    Suqur al-Sham Brigades [Hawks of Syria Brigade]
    Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant [ISIS; ISIL]
  • Third parties

    -
  • Description

    Short ceasefire agreement and the agreement that no party to the agreement may support any other faction in the Levant that 'fights in the path of God'. Agreement also calls for the establishment of a Sharia court to help implementation.


Local agreement properties

  • Process type

    Isolated example
  • Rationale

    Local issues only, no external support mechanism, no culture of signing No formally-established mechanism supported the negotiation between the two Salafi armed groups. Moreover, this agreement cannot be linked to the national peace process. Indeed, both groups have a Salafist ideology; they oppose the rule of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and reject the idea of a national negotiation to solve the conflict. This agreement is one of its kind because ISIS accepts to dealing with a group that was once part of the Western-aligned FSA, which is a significant step.
  • 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, all parties to the agreement reject the national peace process, as it would maintain Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government in power.
  • Name of Locale

    NA
  • Nature Of Locale

    Region
  • GPS Lat/Long (DD)

    34.851288, 37.861475
  • Participant type

    Local armed group
    International or transnational actor
  • 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 God, most Gracious, most Compassionate

    Page 1, God says: “The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers [49:10].”
    Following this reasoning, a peace agreement was made, and this is its beginning:

    Page 1, No party, after signing this agreement, has the right to support any other faction in the Levant that fights in the path of God.
  • Grievance List
    Although the agreement does not refer to specific causes of the conflict, it seems that the confrontation between Suqur al-Sham Brigades and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant lies at the centre of the dispute.
  • Cattle rustling/banditry

    No specific mention.

  • Social cover

    No specific mention.


In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate

Untitled Agreement [between Suqur al-Sham Brigades and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)]

God says:

“The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers [49:10].”

Following this reasoning, a peace agreement was made, and this is its beginning:

We, the Suqour al-Sham Brigades and its leader Abu ‘Isa al-Sheikh, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi agreed to:

Stop the fighting between them immediately and each party will not attack the other in any way.

No party, after signing this agreement, has the right to support any other faction in the Levant that fights in the path of God.

Moreover, if any of the parties attack the other one, a joint court of Sharia will be established between them to settle any disputes.

06/01/2014

[2 signatories]