ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Saudi Arabia welcomed on Tuesday the signing of an agreement between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to officially integrate the Kurdish-led forces and all other institutions in northeast Syria into the Syrian state institutions.
Saudi Arabia welcomes “signing the agreement to integrate all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria into the institutions of the Syrian Arab Republic,” read a statement from Saudi’s foreign ministry.
The statement added that “The Kingdom also commends the measures taken by the Syrian leadership to preserve civil peace in Syria and the efforts made to complete the process of building state institutions to achieve security and stability and meet the aspirations of the Syrian people.”
The Kingdom reiterated its “full support for Syria’s unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
The eight-point agreement between Sharaa and Abdi, which was reached after months of deliberation and negotiations, also includes; supporting the Syrian state in combating remnants and loyalists of the ousted regime, guaranteeing the rights of all Syrians in representation and participation in the political process and all state institutions, a ceasefire across Syrian territories, refusing attempts to divide the Syrian state, and the need to guarantee the return of Syrian refugees.
An 11-day sweeping rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Sharaa, brought a five-decade-long rule of the Assad family to an end on December 8.
During a conference declaring the victory of the Syrian revolution in late January, the new Damascus administration announced that all armed factions would be dissolved and integrated into the state institutions.
The SDF currently controls the bulk of the northeastern and eastern regions of Syria, amounting to a quarter of the territory of the country. Formed in 2015, the SDF is strongly backed by the US and is considered the Kurdish de facto army in Syria.
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