• Country/entity

  Syria
  

• Region

  Middle East and North Africa
  

• Agreement name

  Agreement between Harakat Ahraru al-Sham and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in al-Ghab Plain

• Date

  9 Jan 2019

• 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

  Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
  Harakat Ahraru al-Sham

• Third parties

  -

• Description

  Short agreement that provides for the dissolving of Harakat aḥrāru a-Shām and the administrative and military arrangements that follow.

• Agreement document

  SY_190109_Agreement between Harakat Ahraru a-Sham and Hay at Tahrir al-Sham in al-Ghab Plain.pdf | Download PDF

• Agreement document (original language)

  SY_190109_Agreement between Harakat Ahraru a-Sham and Hay at Tahrir al-Sham in al-Ghab Plain_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 governorate in late-2018 and early-2019 between opposition groups. Also, the two signing parties agreed on prisoners exchanges in this same locale the day before this agreement was signed.

• 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

  al-Ghab area and mountain Shashabo

• Nature Of Locale

  Region

• GPS Lat/Long (DD)

  35.546858, 36.405168

• Participant type

  Local armed group
  

• Mediator, facilitator or similar

  No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

It was agreed between the brothers in Hayʼat Tahrīr al-Shām [Organization for the Liberation of the Levant] and the brother in Harakat aḥrāru a-Shām [Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant] al-Ghab section, on the following points:

1. Dissolve Harakat aḥrāru a-Shām [Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant] in al-Ghab area and mountain Shashabo

2. The area to be affiliated to the Salvation Government, administratively and serviceably.

3. Patrolling will be arranged and the military actions to be conducted under the supervision of the Hayʼat Tahrīr al-Shām

4. Heavy and medium weapons to be handed over to the Hayʼat Tahrīr al-Shām, and personal weapons to be kept in the hands of the members of the Harakat [aḥrāru a-Shām] (previously)

5. Those who like to stay [in the area] or do patrolling in the area can remain, and those who like to leave (to the areas of Ghosn Zeitoun, will leave in coordination with Hayʼat Tahrīr al-Shām

6. Each of the headquarters (Sha'ir and Al-Shamali) will keep receiving the brothers who are committed to patrolling.

7. Hayʼat Tahrīr al-Shām to guarantee that no one who participated in the fighting in the Al-Ghab and Shashabo will be prosecuted.

Representing Hayʼat Tahrīr al-Shām Representing Harakat aḥrāru a-Shām

Abu Yousef al-Hamwi Muhammad Husam al-Raadun

[stamp] [signature] [signature]