Syrian forces agree truce with French-led jihadist group

DAMASCUS

Syrian authorities have agreed a ceasefire with a group of jihadists led by Frenchman Oumar Diaby in northwest Syria, sources from both sides told AFP on Oct. 23.

Government forces surrounded the camp of Firqatul Ghuraba ("the Foreigners' Brigade") on Oct. 22, leading to the first clashes with jihadists under Syria's new leadership since the ousting in last December of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Diaby, also known as Omar Omsen, was accused of kidnapping a girl and had sought to prevent troops entering the camp in the Harem region near the Turkish border, which is home to a few dozen fighters.

"An agreement was reached providing for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons [by the army]," and allowing the Syrian government to enter the camp, a local security official who requested anonymity told AFP.

The written agreement, seen by AFP, also stipulates that a criminal investigation will be opened into the allegations of kidnapping against Diaby.

The ceasefire was being respected yesterday, according to the local security official and a source among the French jihadists contacted by AFP.

Since taking power, Syria's new leaders have sought to break from their own radical Islamist past and present a moderate image more tolerable to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.

Dealing with the thousands of heavily armed foreign fighters who flocked to the country during the country’s civil war that began in 2011 is one of many security challenges facing the new authorities.

In September 2016, the United States designated Diaby, suspected of helping French-speaking fighters travel to Syria, as an "international terrorist.”

The Franco-Senegalese criminal-turned-preacher, 50, is also wanted on a French arrest warrant.