(Zaman Al Wasl)- Spokesman for powerful Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group said the Syrian opposition had not involved in direct talks with Iran-allied Shiite militias over the Qatari hunting party who was kidnapped in southern Iraq in 2015 and released on Friday.
Imad el-Din Mujahed said the evacuation deal of the four towns was not related to the release of the Qarati hostages. Their release was due to direct negotiations between the Qatari government and the The Iraqi militias, he added.
The Qatari hunting party have been handed over to a Qatari delegation in Baghdad on Friday, AFP reported.
Mujahed comments come after the news agencies said the release was part of a far-reaching regional deal involving the release of prisoners and the evacuation of civilians in neighboring Syria.
The Syrian deal included the evacuation of thousands of people from the northern Syrian villages of Fuaa and Kafraya, which are government-controlled but have been besieged by rebels.
Mujahed told Zaman al-Wasl that 750 detainees were freed by the Assad regime as an outcome of the Four-Town deal. 120 detainees, including 20 woman, who refused to stay in regime-held areas have reached Idlib on Friday.
“The interior ministry has received the Qatari hunters, all 26 of them,” the minister’s adviser, Wahab al-Taee, said. “They will be handed over to the Qatari envoy.”
The group of hunters, believed to include one or several prominent members of the Qatari royal family, were kidnapped in mid-December 2015 during a hunting trip in southern Iraq.
“The Qataris are now in (Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi’s office following a deal between Jabhat al-Nusra and the kidnappers,” the source told AFP, referring to the former Al-Qaeda affiliate now known as Fateh al-Sham Front.
There was never any claim for the kidnapping of the hunters who were seized in a Shiite area of Iraq and widely believed to have been nabbed by militias with close ties to Tehran.
The evacuation of civilians and fighters from four besieged towns was completed on Friday after a 48-hour halt, as part of a mediated swap deal between the warring sides, state media and a rebel official said.
Thousands of civilians and pro-regime fighters from the Shi'ite towns of al-Foua and Kefraya arrived in army-held Aleppo, a war monitor said.
Evacuees from the two rebel-besieged towns had been stuck at a staging area outside the city, where a bomb attack on an evacuation convoy killed scores of people last week.
In exchange, busloads of rebels and their relatives from Zabadani left a second nearby transit point for rebel territory, state television said.
The towns of Zabadani and Madaya, which had long been under siege by pro-regime forces near Damascus, came under state rule this week after Sunni rebels and civilians were evacuated.
Imad el-Din Mujahed said the evacuation deal of the four towns was not related to the release of the Qarati hostages. Their release was due to direct negotiations between the Qatari government and the The Iraqi militias, he added.
The Qatari hunting party have been handed over to a Qatari delegation in Baghdad on Friday, AFP reported.
Mujahed comments come after the news agencies said the release was part of a far-reaching regional deal involving the release of prisoners and the evacuation of civilians in neighboring Syria.
The Syrian deal included the evacuation of thousands of people from the northern Syrian villages of Fuaa and Kafraya, which are government-controlled but have been besieged by rebels.
Mujahed told Zaman al-Wasl that 750 detainees were freed by the Assad regime as an outcome of the Four-Town deal. 120 detainees, including 20 woman, who refused to stay in regime-held areas have reached Idlib on Friday.
“The interior ministry has received the Qatari hunters, all 26 of them,” the minister’s adviser, Wahab al-Taee, said. “They will be handed over to the Qatari envoy.”
The group of hunters, believed to include one or several prominent members of the Qatari royal family, were kidnapped in mid-December 2015 during a hunting trip in southern Iraq.
“The Qataris are now in (Prime Minister) Haider al-Abadi’s office following a deal between Jabhat al-Nusra and the kidnappers,” the source told AFP, referring to the former Al-Qaeda affiliate now known as Fateh al-Sham Front.
There was never any claim for the kidnapping of the hunters who were seized in a Shiite area of Iraq and widely believed to have been nabbed by militias with close ties to Tehran.
The evacuation of civilians and fighters from four besieged towns was completed on Friday after a 48-hour halt, as part of a mediated swap deal between the warring sides, state media and a rebel official said.
Thousands of civilians and pro-regime fighters from the Shi'ite towns of al-Foua and Kefraya arrived in army-held Aleppo, a war monitor said.
Evacuees from the two rebel-besieged towns had been stuck at a staging area outside the city, where a bomb attack on an evacuation convoy killed scores of people last week.
In exchange, busloads of rebels and their relatives from Zabadani left a second nearby transit point for rebel territory, state television said.
The towns of Zabadani and Madaya, which had long been under siege by pro-regime forces near Damascus, came under state rule this week after Sunni rebels and civilians were evacuated.
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.