Egyptian mediation behind ceasefire deal in Syria's Ghouta

CAIRO – 23 July 2017: Syria's Tomorrow opposition movement signed a cease-fire agreement in eastern Ghouta with the Syrian regime, according to official statement issued Sunday.

The agreement signed with Egyptian mediation, according to the statement, came after three day-negations in the presence of representatives of the Syrian opposition, Syrian regime and the Russian Defense Ministry.

The agreement stated conditions include, “a complete cease-fire binding to all parties, the entry ban of all military troops into eastern Ghouta, building Russian observation sites inside Ghouta to monitor the parties’ commitment to the agreement.”

“This agreement should ease the Syrian people's suffering, and improve their life conditions,” the statement read.

The movement also thanked President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and the Egyptian government for its mediation and efforts hosting the negotiations and the agreement signing. “Finally we hope this agreement is one of the steps towards achieving peace inside the whole Syrian territory.”

Syria's Tomorrow opposition movement was founded in March 2016 by Syrian National Council member, Ahmad Jarba.

On June24, Chargé d'affaires of the Egyptian Embassy in Damascus, Mohamed Tharwat said, that 'any role or help from the international powers regarding settling the Syrian crises will be welcomed.'

“We believe that the Syrian crises will not come to an end, but through using dialogue and communications,” Tharwat said in statements to Syrian Al-Watan newspaper. He added that Egypt is backing all the attempts regarding solving the crises whether through ‘Geneva’ or ‘Astana’ dialogues.

“Time has proved that the military solution is not going to work regarding the Syrian crises; we need to know that there is no winner or loser in this case and for this, the political solution is the only solution,” Tharwat said.

The Syrian political situation has been escalating since the protests that emerged with the Arab Spring revolutions, as the opposition created the ‘Free Syrian Army’ to face Assad’s forces. The situation worsened when the Islamic State terrorist group interfered in the country. About 320,000 people were killed since the beginning of the war.