http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-rebels-idUSKBN1460LX?il=0
World News | Sat Dec 17, 2016 | 2:13pm EST
Syrian rebel group blames Iran for holding
up Aleppo
evacuationhttp://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-rebels-idUSKBN1460LX?il=0World
News | Sat Dec 17, 2016 | 2:13pm EST
Syrian
rebel group blames Iran for holding up Aleppo evacuation
People wait to be evacuated from a
rebel-held sector of eastern Aleppo, Syria December 16, 2016.
REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi | AMMAN
A senior Syrian rebel blamed Iran and its
Shi'ite militias on Saturday of holding up the evacuation of civilians trapped
in the remaining rebel bastion in Aleppo and urged Russia to live up to its
commitment to implement the deal.
Munir al Sayal, the head of the political
wing of the Ahrar al Sham rebel group involved in negotiations over the deal,
said Iran was insisting people be allowed to leave two besieged Shi'ite
villages before letting the Aleppo evacuation happen. He said Russia was
failing to restrain its ally.
"Iran and its sectarian proxies are
using the humanitarian situation of our people in besieged Aleppo and
preventing civilians from leaving until the evacuation of their groups in
al-Foua and Kefyra," Sayal told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The operation to evacuate fighters and
civilians from the last opposition-held area of Aleppo was suspended on Friday,
its second day, after pro-government militias demanded that wounded people also
be brought out of al-Foua and Kefraya, and protesters blocked the road out of
Aleppo.
Sayal said Iranian-backed Shi'ite fighters
led by Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah militia and other Iraqi Shi'ite groups were
behind the detention of hundreds of people trying to leave on Friday, leading
to some deaths before they were turned back, in an effort to disrupt the
evacuation.
Numerous rebels and east Aleppo residents
shared reports and videos of people fleeing the sound of shooting, being
detained and returning home badly beaten and robbed of their possessions near a
checkpoint as they tried to leave the city on Friday.
"These sectarian militias are
responsible but we warn them the safety of our people in Aleppo is the priority
and all options are open toward achieving that goal," said Sayal, whose
armed group has a countrywide presence and is particularly active in
northwestern Syria.
The Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias have
played a leading role in the siege of rebel-held Aleppo and in the Syrian
army's retaking of near full control of the city.
A picture of Iranian Revolutionary Guard
commander Qassem Soleimani in a war-torn street in Aleppo was circulating on
social media on Saturday by supporters. Reuters could not verify the
authenticity of the photo.
Sayal said Moscow's assertion that most
civilians had already been evacuated from Aleppo showed Russia was trying to
renege on its responsibilities under the deal. Thousands of hungry and cold
civilians needed to be evacuated as soon as possible, he said.
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deal to secure Aleppo evacuation
The agreement to evacuate the civilians
and fighters was reached mainly between Russia, whose aerial bombing of Aleppo
played a critical role in the defeat of the insurgents, and Turkey, which backs
the mainstream rebels, acting as a go-between for the main insurgent groups.
"Russia has failed to restrain the
sectarian Shi'ite militias in Aleppo to complete the deal and Moscow should
abide by its commitments," Sayal said.
"There are still civilians in Aleppo
who need to be evacuated in harsh weather conditions and Russian statements
that besieged Aleppo is empty is absolving itself from following up on the
agreement," he added.
