Agreement between Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Ahrar al-Sham, Aleppo

• Country/entity

  Syria
  
• Region

  Middle East and North Africa
  
• Agreement name

  Agreement between Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Ahrar al-Sham, Aleppo
• Date

  7 Jan 2014
• 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

  Other
• Peace process

  Syrian Local Agreements
• Parties

  Omar al-Shishani, the representative of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant;
  Abu Khalid al-Suri the representative of the Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement.
• Third parties

  -
• Description

  Agreement aims to defuse tensions between ISIS and HTS regarding which areas to take. In effect the agreement splits territory between the two groups, including roads and checkpoints, whereby both sides agree to not fight each other.

• Agreement document

  SY_140207_Aleppo Agreement_EN.pdf | Download PDF
• Agreement document (original language)

  SY_140207_Aleppo 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 No formally-established mechanism supported the negotiation between the Salafi-Jihadi 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 choose to solve daily pragmatic issues related to their armed struggle through agreements. Indeed, before the declaration of the Islamic State in late-June 2014, ISIS had a less radical stance on other jihadi groups and was inclined to negotiate or even ally with them. 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.
• 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

  al-Sukkar, al-Abqar
• Nature Of Locale

  Smaller
• GPS Lat/Long (DD)

  36.098961, 37.943556
• Participant type

  Local armed group
  International or transnational actor
  
• Mediator, facilitator or similar

  No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

All praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, Muhammad, His Messenger.

This is an agreement between Omar Al Shishani, the representative of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and between Abu Khalid Al Suri the representative of the Ahrar Al Sham Islamic Movement.

It was agreed that not a single shot would be fired in the direction of the Islamic State, and this agreement includes the road to the end of the airport on the main road only.

Omar Al Shishani, the representative of the Islamic State, pledges to not conduct strikes against the airport at all.

Omar Al Shishani pledges to take the Abqar Road and not the public airport road.

The barrier in front of the Abqar Fork shall be lifted on both sides, and Ahrar Al Sham will move their barrier to directly in front of the Airport Road Fork.

The detainees on both sides shall be released [ILLEGIBLE] Al Sukkar and Al Abqar, and all of the barriers in these areas.

Abu Bakr Al Shami from the [ILLEGIBLE] will oversee the implementation of this agreement.