DARAA. July 17 (Interfax) - Several hundred members of armed units who refused to join the reconciliation process have left Syria's Daraa governorate under an agreement reached with Syrian government forces, Maj. Gen. Alexei Tsygankov, head of the Russian center for reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria, told reporters.
Russia helped broker an agreement between the Syrian government and insurgents on July 6 to evacuate militants and their relatives to the country's northern regions. Fifteen buses were provided to transport those willing to leave. Most of those who exited the Daraa governorate were militants. There was only a small group of their relatives.
"The compromise was reached as a result of lengthy and difficult negotiations. It was decided to provide buses to transport militants and members of their families from Syria. Just recently, there were several thousand people here [in Daraa] who wanted to leave the city. And today there are just several hundred of them. Just a few hours before the evacuation was due to begin, hundreds of militants refused to leave the city and decided to stay," Tsygankov told reporters, adding all this indicates that these people believed their government and stand ready to rebuild their country together with other Syrians.
"Under those agreements, each person leaving [Daraa] was allowed to take one automatic weapon and three magazine cases, but no grenades, night-vision and optical sights. Militants were ordered to hand in all sniper rifles as well. And each commander was allowed to take a pistol," he said.