Agreement [on payment of diya between Nour al-Din al-Zanki Movement and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)]

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Country/entity: Syria
Region: Middle East and North Africa
Agreement name: Agreement [on payment of diya between Nour al-Din al-Zanki Movement and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)]
Date: 2 Feb 2018
Agreement status: Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement: Yes
Agreement/conflict level: Intrastate/local conflict
Syrian Conflicts (1948 - ) (1976 - 2005) (2011 - )
The agreements relate to three different conflict contexts. Israel-Syria and Syria-Lebanon. The Syrian-Israeli conflict was a key factor for the Syrian intervention during the Lebanese Civil War, with Syrian-backed Palestinian Liberation Army units intervened in 1976 against the Palestinian/Leftist militias. Following a massacre at Tel al-Zaatar that year, Syria was forced to accept a ceasefire at a meeting of the Arab League. However, the Arab League also mandated an Arab Deterrence Force, consisting of mostly Syrian soldiers with token contributions from other Arab League states, thus further legitimizing the Syrian presence in Lebanon. During a second bout of fighting that began in 1989, caused by the formation of rival Lebanese regimes in East and West Beirut, the Syrian-backed regime won and in 1991 the ‘Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination’ was signed to legalize the Syrian occupation as a means to ensure the security of Syria. Syrian forces were forced to withdraw in 2005 following possible involvement in the assassination of Lebanon’s President Hariri.

Syria-internal. In 2011, domestic upheaval following a wave of protests across the Arab World soon led to violent repression of protestors by Syrian government troops. The violence progressed steadily and by July 2011 the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed consisting of defected military units and new recruits. The FSA and rebel umbrella group known as the Syrian National Council represented the first attempt at coordinating rebel factions in late 2011. However, a steady influx of foreign fighters and increased sectarianism radicalised opposition groups, which relied on foreign funding. The nature of the conflict changed drastically in late 2013 as infighting among the opposition groups increased. One of the more significant developments was the split between the al-Qaeda outfits the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS), and Jabhat al-Nusra in early 2014 in addition to the intensified targeting of other rebel factions by ISIS fighters in particular, including the Kurdish Peshmerga, the FSA and other jihadist outfits. Since the summer of 2014, the conflict was further internationalized when ISIS announced the formation of an Islamic state eroding the state line between Iraq and Syria and also in mid-2015 when Russian forces intervened on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad government in Damascus.
Stage: Framework/substantive - partial
Conflict nature: Inter-group
Peace process: Syrian Local Agreements
Parties: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ;
Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement;
Victims's families.
[5 signatories total]
Third parties: Mediated by third party Sheikh [name illegible]
Description: Short agreement stating the payment of diya 'blood money' in reparation for deaths in conflict.

Agreement document: SY_180203_Monetary exchange and ceasefire between HTS and NoureddineZanki Movement_EN.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF
Agreement document (original language): SY_180203_Monetary exchange and ceasefire between HTS and NoureddineZanki Movement_AR.pdf (opens in new tab)| Download PDF

Local agreement properties

Process type: Isolated example
Rationale: -> Local issues only; no external support mechanism; no culture of signing The agreement relates to the payment of the diya (financial compensation to victims in the case of murder) to two Harakat Nour al-Deen al-Zenki fighters and their families. There were no established mechanisms to support the negotiation; the agreement mentions a “meeting”. The agreement cannot be placed within the context of a systematic process of 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. 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: NA
Nature of Locale: Smaller
GPS Lat/Long (DD): 36.285172, 36.851106
Participant type: Local armed group
Domestic religious organisation/leader or other elder
Local community/civilian group(s)/civil society organisations
Mediator, facilitator or similar: Mediator or similar referred to
Mediator (references): Sheikh (name illegible) and victims’ families
Type of mediator/facilitator/similar: Local armed group Domestic religious organisation/leader or other elder Local community/civilian group(s)/civil society organisations

Local issues

Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture): Page 1, In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate

Page 1, Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah... but now:

Page 1, May God make this action a reason in succeeding this blessed revolution.
Grievance List: Page 1, There was a meeting on Friday 17 of Jamadi al-Awal with the mediation of Sheikh [illegible] and the victims’ families whose relatives were killed in the recent dispute between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. The diya was paid and everyone were given their rights.

Page 1, Payment, equivalent of a total amount of 46 thousand dollars, between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and
the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement [was made] 02/02/2018.
Cattle rustling/banditry: No specific mention.
Social cover: No specific mention.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful

Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah… but now:

There was a meeting on Friday 17 of Jamadi al-Awal with the mediation of Sheikh [illegible] and the victims’ families whose relatives were killed in the recent dispute between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.

The diya1 was paid and everyone were given their rights.

May God make this action a reason in succeeding this blessed revolution.

Payment, equivalent of a total amount of 46 thousand dollars, between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement [was made] 02/02/2018.

Published:

2/2/2018

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham delegate

The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement delegate

[5 signatories]