1. A “road map” presented by Syrian Kurdish officials to Russia, consisting of 11 items, including the demand that Bashar al-Assad’s regime recognizes “self-governance” in the northeast and a new constitution guaranteeing the sharing of natural resources and the elimination of discriminatory measures against the Kurds. In return, the Kurds will recognize Assad as president and the unity of the Syrian state with its flag and army. According to a report by Asharq al-Awsat, Kurdish officials handed the road map to the Russian side. The road map included ideas that People’s Protection Units commander, Siban Hamo, had discussed in a two secret visits to Damascus. The Kurds want the Russians to be guarantors of the plan.
2. On Friday, a bombing at an ammunition depot killed 11 people in the jihadist-held city of Idleb, in northwestern Syria, a British-based war monitor said. It targeted the arms store belonging to Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by Syria’s former al-Qaeda affiliate, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. It added that, “Initial information points to a car bomb”.
3. Syria has blamed the US-led coalition for killing 20 civilians, including 14 children and 3 women on Friday. The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned, “in strongest terms, the continued attacks of the US-led “International Coalition” on Syrian civilians and the great damage caused by such attacks to infrastructure, economic, services, oil and gas facilities and to public and private properties in Syria.” SANA quoted the letter as saying, “this latest crime is a continuation of the crimes that have become systematic and daily by the “coalition” and a blatant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic under exposed pretexts.” The letter stressed that the activities of the Coalition, which was formed illegally, outside the jurisdiction of the UN Security Council, have strengthened extremist terrorist groups, including the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, and increased cooperation and coordination among them, as this was confirmed and documented in dozens of previous letters addressed by Syria to the Security Council.
4. Turkey rejected of the deployment of Syrian regime forces in the northern town of Manbij after the US withdraws its troops from the country, Anadolu News Agency reported. The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) had proposed that the regime reenter the town. The strategic northern city has been held by the YPG since 2016 after they recaptured the territory from the Islamic State. But Ankara, which says the YPG is a “terrorist offshoot” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has repeatedly called for the Kurdish force to leave the city. “The YPG’s efforts to stick the regime in Manbij must absolutely not be allowed,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said during a press conference in Ankara.
5. On Friday, Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, called for Syria’s membership to the Arab League to be restored. He made his remarks before at a meeting of Arab ministers in Beirut ahead of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit (AESD), which is being held in the Lebanese capital. SANA quoted Basil as saying, “We should not wait to get permission for their return, so that we don’t commit a historic shame by suspending a member because of external orders.”
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
