BEIRUT: The Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria have struck a deal with the central government on running a key dam they captured from extremists with US support, a Kurdish source said Thursday.
“An agreement has been reached between the autonomous administration and the Syrian government for the management of the Tishrin Dam” on the Euphrates River, the source told AFP.
Under the agreement, Kurdish-led fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces will pull back from the dam which they captured from the Daesh group in late 2015, the source said.
Fighters loyal to the new Islamist-led government in Damascus established after the December overthrow of longtime strongman Bashar Assad will take over security and a joint administration will run the dam.
The dam is one of several on the Euphrates and its tributaries in Syria that play a key role in the nation’s economy by providing it with water for irrigation and hydro-electric power.
It was a key battleground in the civil war that broke out in 2011, falling first to rebels and then to IS before being captured by the SDF.
Days after Assad’s overthrow, it was targeted by Turkish drone strikes that killed dozens of civilians, Kurdish officials and Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Kurdish source said the dam deal was the latest step in implementing a March agreement with Damascus to integrate the institutions of the autonomous Kurdish administration into those of the central government.
The deal already saw Kurdish fighters withdraw from two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of the main northern city of Aleppo earlier this month.
It has also seen a reduction in the presence of pro-Turkiye fighters in the historically Kurdish-majority northwestern region of Afrin.
There was no immediate word from the Damascus government on the dam deal.
The Observatory said the new joint committee would supervise the necessary repairs to the dam.
It said some Kurdish security agents would take part in the new security teams for the dam, alongside agents of the central government.
Syria Kurds say struck deal with Damascus on battleground dam
https://arab.news/z6t87
Syria Kurds say struck deal with Damascus on battleground dam
- Kurdish-led fighters of the SDF will pull back from the Tishrin Dam
- Dam is one of several on the Euphrates that play a key role in Syria’s economy
Hamas says will give up arms to a Palestinian authority ‘if occupation ends’
- “We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” Hayya says
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Hamas said Saturday it was ready to hand over its weapons in the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian authority governing the territory on the condition that the Israeli army’s occupation ends.
“Our weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and the aggression,” Hamas chief negotiator and its Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said in a statement, adding: “If the occupation ends, these weapons will be placed under the authority of the state.” Asked by AFP, Hayya’s bureau said he was referring to a sovereign and independent Palestnian state.
“We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” Hayya added, signalling his group’s rejection of the deployment of an international force in the Strip whose mission would be to disarm it.
