MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - More than 30 towns and villages in Syria's Hama Province have joined the national reconciliation process in the country with the Russian Coordination Center's mediation, the head of the Hama Province reconciliation group, Lt. Col. German Rudenko, has said.
On Wednesday, the village of Maarzaf hosted an elders' council, during which, with Russian officers from the Coordination Center for the reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria acting as mediators, Sheikh Ahmad Mubarak signed an agreement with the local authorities on the village's entry into the peace process.
"It is very scrupulous and fragile work. Here, everything is based on religious and national aspects, but, all in all, during the group's work, some 30 settlements have already signed such application lists on joining the peace process and talks," Rudenko told reporters on Thursday.
The accord which representatives of the local authorities are offered to sign includes points banning the use of weapons against government forces, facilitating the peace process and agreeing to return power in the region to the state authorities, he said.
According to Rudenko, negotiations have been extremely complicated in some settlements due to the absence of infrastructure, the complex situation with food supplies and local residents intimidated by terrorists.
"When we were just beginning our work, it was increasingly difficult to establish contact in the settlements, but, thanks to our group's work, we managed to establish contact with Sheikh Mubarak, who agreed to help us with the negotiating process," Rudenko said.
The sheikh, for his part, noted Russia's significant role in launching the reconciliation process in Syria.
"National reconciliation has happened thanks to the fact that the Syrian army retook a multitude of seized territories from terrorists. This became possible thanks to Russia, which made a maximum effort, presenting a very promising project of national reconciliation in Syria," Sheikh Mubarak said after signing the agreement.
He confirmed that he had already managed to unite more than 30 localities in Hama Province with the Russian Coordination Center's mediation, adding that a large number of other settlements had already voiced their desire to join the peace talks in the near future.
The sheikh also expressed confidence that the signing of truce agreements would positively impact the regional elections, which are expected to take place in Syria on March 7.
For his part, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenko said: "You see how much residents of Hama Province trust Sheikh Mubarak. It is such people who should determine their country's fate in the future, and should work to rebuild it after the war."