Cutting support for rebels step toward ending war in Syria: Minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) –  The US decision to put an end to the covert CIA program supporting rebel groups fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is the “first step” toward ending the six-year conflict, a government minister told Reuters.

“All these steps are the start to solving the Syrian crisis, and without that there is no solution,” national reconciliation minister Ali Haidar said in an interview.

His comments come a week after the Trump administration’s decision to suspend the CIA program set up in 2013 under former President Barack Obama to equip and train certain vetted rebels.

“All the American attempts to fund and arm and train groups it called moderate factions…have failed,” he said.

The move marks a further blow to the opposition and a boost for Assad, as the aid cut-off involves opposition groups along Syria’s border with Turkey, as well as its border with Jordan.

Haider hinted more was expected from foreign states, stating the need to “completely seal off borders” across which arms and fighters have flowed throughout the war, killing hundreds of thousands of people.

“As long as there are areas left like open wounds, there will be no solution,” he said to Reuters, without specifying which areas these were.

The program was separate from US aid to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighting the Islamic State (IS), and the end of its support to the Arab opposition does not affect US backing for the SDF.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan participated with the US in the clandestine effort against the Syrian regime.

Once Russia intervened militarily to support Assad in 2015, the opposition became ineffectual without more outside support.

Some of these states, notably Qatar and Turkey, are widely believed to have backed some rebels outside the CIA channel.

The White House decided to end the covert assistance ahead of the G-20 summit on July 7 in Germany, where Trump had two friendly meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump called the CIA funding to anti-Assad Syrian rebels “massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments,” and has been vocal about focusing on the fight against IS above all else.

Haidar also said the government intends to reach more such agreements with rebels.

“The Syrian government and allied countries are working on many details for the…de-escalation zones to pave the way for real reconciliations,” Haidar said. “We will not accept anything less than that.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany