Kurds to water down their self-governing announcement Zaid Benjamin Sunday July 21, 2013 The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday that about 60 fighters were killed during 5-day clashes between the Kurdish factions and Islamists in several towns north of Syria, among them 35 elements form al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham and 19 militants from the Kurdish forces paramount among them is the Popular Protection Unites YPG. The tensions between the two parties exacerbated in the last 24 hours, when Liwa Jabhat al-Akrad “The Kurdish Front Brigade” announced the capture of Abu Mousab, the Emir of the ISIS in Tal Abyad. The brigade said in a concise statement that Abu Mousab will be “released in a prisoners-swap for scores of civilian Kurds who were detained by Jabhat al-Nusra” another al-Qaeda affiliated faction fighting in Syria. Several reports have emerged giving the details of how Abu Mosab was captured. According to Rami Abdelrahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory, Abu Mousab and several fighters accompanying him were arrested while trying to instill bombs around a school taken by one of the Kurdish parties as a headquarters. Later statement by the Observatory said that Abu Mousab was wearing suicide belt in a school at a small town called al-Yabsa and was threatening to detonate himself if he was not allowed to leave. Ibrahim Zana, an activist from Tal Abyad, said in a Skype call that Abu Mosab with others were in their way to a town close to Tal Abyad in order to oversee and give the final order to destroy the school, but he was stopped and taken by the Kurds to undisclosed place near Tal Abyad. A third narrative can be drawn taking into consideration the Kurdish Front Brigade statements. A statement posted early Saturday indicated that several families from the town formed a committee that was dispatched to Emir of Jabhat al-Nusra to negotiate the release of “unarmed civilians” taken by the Islamists the man “refused to negotiate”. In another statement posted an hour later the brigade said Abu Mousab “the Emir who refused to negotiate” was arrested. A Free Syrian Army spokesman, who preferred not to reveal his name for security reasons, said the capture of Abu Mousab has left the fighters of the Islamic State “out of their minds” and “ready for all scenarios”. A deadly mixture The overlap between Jabhat al-Nusra and the ISIS in the ongoing confrontations with the Kurdish factions is not new. The Kurdish Front Brigade and the Popular Protection Unites seemed not interested in drawing a line to distinguish between the two Islamic groups that embrace a puritanical version of Islam but they differ on how to operate on the ground in order to end the role of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The clashes trace back to last Tuesday when ISIS launched an assault on a PYG women patrol near Ras al-Ein, more than 100 km east of Tel Abyad. The male driver was arrested but two female fighters escaped successfully. The Kurds quickly responded by attacking positions of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra in the Kurdish areas. On Wednesday, both Islamic groups were expelled from Ras al-Ein which is a home for 80 thousands inhabitants. This rapid retreat prompted al-Nusra Mofti to call for Jihad in the Kurdish areas on Wednesday, and hundreds of fighters from al-Nusra and the ad hoc Free Syrian army were seen on their way from Deir ez-Zor and other eastern towns to the main conflict points. The capturing of Abu Mousab Saturday represents another setback for the Islamists who are seeking to save their reputation as unbeatable fighters. Abu Mousab, his full name is Khalaf Dyab Halbous and he is believed to be in his mid thirties, hails from al-Qunaitra town, one of the towns established by Syria’s ruling party al-Baath north and northeast of the country in the wake of 1963 coup aiming at Arabization of the Kurdish region. He was selected for the ISIS top position in Tal Abyad last May to succeed Abu Ahmed, who was leading the ISIS fighters in the region but was referred to Sharia Commission after confiscating barley crop which belonged to a Christen man in the city. “What he (Abu Ahmed) did was running contrary to the instructions” Abu Mousab said in an interview posted on Tal Abyad News Center, a Facebook page close to Jabhat al-Nusra in the region, “ The state has issued directives prohibiting any assault against the money and lives of those Christians who remain neutral and do not support the regime” of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Another event helped oust Abu Ahmed from his top position. He bulldozed a shrine dedicated to the biblical patriarch Abraham, a move that was not “the current policy of the state” Abu Mousab said while contending that shrines has nothing to do with Islam “ a Muslim calls his God without mediator” he added. The worsening landscape in north of Syria prompted the Kurds to propose the idea of self-governing their areas. The announcement rang a bill in several Western capitals among them Ankara. according to the Democratic Union Party spokesman Nawaf Khalil, the proposal was discussed during a meeting held in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, north of Baghdad, on June 30 under the aspics of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party led by the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. The meeting included six Kurdish parties and aimed at solving the internal issues that led to internecine struggle among the Kurdish groups themselves in a city called Amouda. “We will form interim governing councils to help run the daily lives of our people and help fulfill their needs” Khaleel said “then we will select a committee to help write a constitution that will eventually lead to an interim parliament and an interim government”. he added. Those institutions, according to Khaleel, are designed to administrate the Kurdish areas stretching from the Syrian borders with Iraq to the city of Aleppo, “we are speaking about an area twice the size of Lebanon and several other Arab countries like Qatar and Bahrain.” he added. Kurds are the largest ethic minority in Syrian and represent 9 percent of the population. Such move could roil Turkey where the Kurds compose something between 15 and 25 percent of the population and see their brethren achieve more autonomy in Iraq and Syria. Khaleel contends that the Kurdish move was rational because “Damascus government has a minimal or no role in the Kurdish areas since the uprising erupted in Syria 28 months ago.” Answering a question about the expected reaction from Ankara, Khaleel said “the Arabs held elections for the local councils administrating their areas in Aleppo and everybody welcomed those moves, why should they object ours?” Shalal Kudo, a senior member of the Kurdish Leftist Party and member of the Syrian Kurdish National Council, said the proposal is still under intense deliberations “our opinions during Sulaymaniyah meeting were so close about the interim administration” he said “but we didn’t agree on the details” he added. Khaleel said “there is no timetable yet to implement the agreement but we need to hammer one out soon”. A statement by the Democratic Union Party is expected soon to “clarify what we mean by the interim governance” Khaleel added “and to put an end for the Western media exaggerations in the last few days.”
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 06:08:47 +0000
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