ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--An Iranian-Turkish agreement to allow besieged Islamist rebels and Shiites in two parts of Syria safe passage went into effect today. As part of the deal that was agreed in September members of the Jabhat al-Nusra cut-off and holed up in the Syrian resort town of Zabadani near Damascus by Syrian military and Hezbollah forces will be allowed safe-passage to Turkey where they are to remain. In return Nusra militants in Idilb will lift their siege and stop bombarding the Shia-majority towns of Kefraya and Fuaa in Idilb. The civilian populations in that town are set to be evacuated to Turkey where they will then be flown to the Lebanese capital Beirut. A reported 300 families are to be leaving in the coming days. Reuters reports that ambulances and buses are currently there evacuating the Islamists. The United Nations, International Committee for the Red Cross, Lebanese Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent agencies are all participating in the operation. A successful trade-off now may bode well for the prospect of a more comprehensive peace agreement in Geneva come January 25. The deals was negotiated between Iran and Turkey which helped bring about ceasefires in these two flash-points. Iran is a supporter of the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the Hezbollah militia. Turkey supports the Jaish al-Fatah Islamist group who it gave intelligence and logistical support to last May when they successfully overran most of Syria's Idlib province.
