The National Liberation Front (NLF) expressed its categorical rejection of any Russian military presence in the demilitarized zone to be established in under the Idlib agreement. The FSA umbrella group said they were consulting with Turkey about implementing the agreement.
Spokesman for NLF Captain Naji Mustafa said they expressed “their categorical rejection of any Russian presence in the demilitarized zone during a lengthy meeting with the Turkish ally.” He noted that they received confirmation from Ankara that no Russian forces will enter the demilitarized zone.
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to prevent the Assad regime forces and Iranian terrorist groups from launching a military operation in Idlib province. The Syrian Coalition said that the agreement was an important, necessary step to ensure the safety of civilians in the province. The Coalition also said that the agreement will likely pave the way for a political solution and showed how the option of killing and displacement has drastically failed.
The Syrian Coalition’s political committee earlier this week discussed a plan to consolidate the civil administration in the province of Idlib in a meeting with head of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) Jawad Abu Hatab and SIG’s ministers as well as representatives of local councils and civic bodies in northern Syria.
President of the Syrian Coalition Abdurrahman Mustafa said that there is a pressing need to develop a plan to set up a civil administration in Idlib province through the Syrian Interim Government.
Idlib province is home to more than three million people, half of whom were forcibly displaced from other parts of Syria by the Assad regime’s forces and their allies. International humanitarian organizations are unable to cope with the needs of the population living there. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
