Agreement between Harikat Tahrir Suriyya and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)

• Country/entity

  Syria
  
• Region

  Middle East and North Africa
  
• Agreement name

  Agreement between Harikat Tahrir Suriyya and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)
• Date

  27 Feb 2018
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

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

  Ceasefire/related
• Conflict nature

  Inter-group
• Peace process

  Syrian Local Agreements
• Parties

  [Signature Illegible], Chairman of the Jabala Council
  [Signature Illegible], Chairman of Maar Tamater Council
• Third parties

  -
• Description

  -

• Agreement document

  SY_180227_HTS and Syrian Liberation Organisation Agreement_EN.pdf | Download PDF
• Agreement document (original language)

  SY_180227_HTS and Syrian Liberation Organisation Agreement_AR.pdf | Download PDF

Local agreement properties

• Process type

  Informal but persistent process
  
• Rationale

  -> Local issues only; no external support mechanism; culture of signing There is no formally established mechanism to support the negotiation between 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. Yet, it seems that both signing parties (especially Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) choose to solve daily pragmatic issues related to their armed struggle through agreements. Although one cannot speak of a “culture” of singing peace agreements, the parties are involved (in a non-proactive and non-conscious way) in a persistent practice of signing local agreements. The agreement is related to multiple local level processes in Idlib and Aleppo governorates in 2018.
• 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. Finally, the agreement should be understood in the context of an “intra-religious insurgent groups” conflict where several factions that all oppose Bashar al-Assad engaged in fighting and took some distance from their initial raison d’être in the context of the Syrian civil war.
• Name of Locale

  Jabala and Maar Tamater
• Nature Of Locale

  Smaller
• GPS Lat/Long (DD)

  35.572156, 36.556989
• Participant type

  Domestic religious organisation/leader or other elder
  
• Mediator, facilitator or similar

  No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

In the name of Allah, most gracious and merciful

The decision of the civil administration in the villages of Jabala and Maar Tamater, represented by the two local councils.

Due to the current circumstances the region is going through, a meeting was held between the two the local councils and all the military factions in the village, and the decision was made on the following:

1. A complete neutralization of the two villages Jabala and Maar Tamater from this fighting.

2. Consider all fighters within the two villages as one body and follow the local councils within the two villages.

3. The belligerent factions are prohibited from exploiting roads in the two villages.

4. The two villages are [to be] empty of military headquarters.

5. Any person who violates any of these articles is considered as an individual act and does not represent the village.

Done on 28/2/2018

Chairman of the Jabala Council Chairman of Maar Tamater Council

Signature Signature

Stamp Stamp