Agreement between the National Liberation Front and Tahrir al-Sham in the countryside of Aleppo

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Country/entity: Syria
Region: Middle East and North Africa
Agreement name: Agreement between the National Liberation Front and Tahrir al-Sham in the countryside of Aleppo
Date: 31 Oct 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: Ceasefire/related
Conflict nature: Inter-group
Peace process: Syrian Local Agreements
Parties: Abu Obaida kafarhour [Signature]
al-Shiekh al-Hasan [Signature]
Abu Aseer [Signature]
Third parties: -
Description: Nine point agreement providing for a ceasefire and territorial delineation between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the National Front for Liberation in the western countryside of Aleppo. It also provides for the formation of a committee to investigate the killing of the two prominent leaders of Tahrir al-Sham.

Agreement document: SY_181031_Agreement between the National Liberation Front and Tahrir al-Sham in the countryside of Aleppo.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF
Agreement document (original language): SY_181031_Agreement between the National Liberation Front and Tahrir al-Sham in the countryside of Aleppo_AR.pdf (opens in new tab)| 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 two armed groups. Moreover, this agreement cannot be linked to the national peace process. Indeed, both groups 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 their quarrels through agreements. Finally, this agreement is one of the several agreements signed between the two groups since August 2018 in Aleppo governorate.
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: Kafr Hamra
Nature of Locale: Region
GPS Lat/Long (DD): 36.255843, 37.081561
Participant type: Local armed group
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 Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Page 1, Praise be to God and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of God, his family and companions, and his supporter, and after:

Page 1, 3. Formation of an agreed committee to investigate the case of the killing of the two brothers Akram Khattab and Abu Trapp may Allah accept them, and hand over the suspects.
Grievance List: The agreement does not clearly mention the cause of the conflict. Yet it seems to addresses the grievances that arose from days of clashes between the National Front for Liberation and the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant. This mainly includes the killing of two brothers who were prominent leaders of the latter group in Kafr Hamra, in the western countryside of Aleppo.
Cattle rustling/banditry: No specific mention.
Social cover: Page 1 , 3. Formation of an agreed committee to investigate the case of the killing of the two brothers Akram Khattab and Abu Trapp may Allah accept them, and hand over the suspects.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful 31/10/2018

Praise be to God and prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of God, his family and companions, and his supporter, and after:

It was agreed between the brothers in the Jabhat al-Wataniya lil-Tahrir [The National Front for Liberation] and Hayʼat Tahrīr al-Shām [Organization for the Liberation of the Levant] on the following:

1. An immediate ceasefire between the two sides.

2. An immediate release of detainees from both sides

3. Formation of an agreed committee to investigate the case of the killing of the two brothers Akram Khattab and Abu Trapp may Allah accept them, and hand over the suspects.

4. The case must be followed up by a third party agreed on by both sides, and it is likely to be Anas [second name unclear] in one condition to work on the case immediately.

5. The village of Teqad to maintain its former neutrality and will host no security headquarters, checkpoints and security patrols, and [the signing parties] not to interfere in its local council.

6. The survival of the “Tekad grotto” in Hafs in the hands of Tahrīr al-Shām

7. The withdrawal of the Jabhat al-Wataniya lil-Tahrir from (Sheikh Khader) hill and Hayʼat [Tahrīr al-Shām] to return to it.

8. The city of Kafr Hamra remains to remain free of the headquarters of (Ahrar – Al-Zanki) and the brotherhood of ahrāru a-Shām [Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant] to have the right to establish an operation room from the side of Lirmoun to Ekthar al-braz.

9. The outstanding issues on the ground to be [dealt with by] the leaders of the two parties to resolve them at the earliest opportunity.

Abu Obaida kafarhour al-Shiekh Ali al-Hasan Abu Aseer

[Signature] [Signature] [Signature]