Buses carrying rebels who were evacuated from al-Rastan are seen in Homs countryside, Syria May 7, 2018. Omar Sanadiki / Reuters
Buses carrying rebels who were evacuated from al-Rastan are seen in Homs countryside, Syria May 7, 2018. Omar Sanadiki / Reuters
Buses carrying rebels who were evacuated from al-Rastan are seen in Homs countryside, Syria May 7, 2018. Omar Sanadiki / Reuters
Buses carrying rebels who were evacuated from al-Rastan are seen in Homs countryside, Syria May 7, 2018. Omar Sanadiki / Reuters

Syria crisis: Rebels withdraw from last holdout


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Syrian rebels began to withdraw from their last holdout in the country's central areas on Wednesday, state television reported, sealing the government's control over the area and opening a major stretch of the country's most important highway.

Their exit further cements President Bashar Al Assad's dominant position over the most populated parts of Syria after years of fighting, but means any new military campaign might risk direct conflict with foreign powers.

The withdrawal may also be the last in a series of agreed evacuations used by the government to defeat besieged insurgents by forcing them to surrender territory in return for safe passage to opposition areas in the north.

Often brokered by Assad's Russian allies, such agreements have in recent years become a defining characteristic of Syria's seven-year war. They have displaced over 100,000 people – rebel fighters and civilians.

The opposition has called it a policy of forced displacement amounting to demographic change to force out Assad's opponents. The Syrian government has said nobody is forced to leave and those who stay must accept state rule.

The last besieged rebel area, being fully evacuated on Wednesday, is the large enclave located between the cities of Hama and Homs around the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh and Houla.

Rebels still hold large swathes of northwest and southwest Syria that are not besieged because they border Turkey and Jordan, which have at times backed the insurgents and are guarantors of limited truces in those areas.

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The only other area still surrounded by the Syrian army, in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus, is held by Islamic State fighters who look unlikely to agree to withdraw to the patch of desert they still hold in eastern Syria.

More than a quarter of Syria is held by an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias that the United States helped in the fight against ISIS.

US President Donald Trump has said he wants to pull American troops from Syria, but the Pentagon has said they are staying for now.

Mr Al Assad focused on the remaining besieged rebel pockets last month after taking back Eastern Ghouta, the biggest insurgent enclave near Damascus, in a ferocious, weeks-long offensive.

Having held the area being evacuated on Wednesday for years, rebels agreed earlier this month to withdraw along with their families and other civilians who did not want to come back under Assad's rule.

Since the enclave straddled Syria's main north-south highway in the stretch between Hama and Homs, recapturing it will significantly ease communication lines in government areas.

Some 27,000 people have left the enclave already since the evacuations began earlier this month, a local government official said. The last convoy of buses began to leave on Wednesday, according to state media.

Last month, 66,000 people left Eastern Ghouta under similar agreements, the UN has said. Other major evacuations have included from East Aleppo in late 2016, when more than 30,000 people left.

Tens of thousands of other people have left smaller pockets in recent years. It has added to a humanitarian crisis in northwestern Idlib province, where the pre-war population of about 1 million people has been doubled by those fleeing other parts of the country.

THREE POSSIBLE REPLACEMENTS

Khalfan Mubarak
The Al Jazira playmaker has for some time been tipped for stardom within UAE football, with Quique Sanchez Flores, his former manager at Al Ahli, once labelling him a “genius”. He was only 17. Now 23, Mubarak has developed into a crafty supplier of chances, evidenced by his seven assists in six league matches this season. Still to display his class at international level, though.

Rayan Yaslam
The Al Ain attacking midfielder has become a regular starter for his club in the past 15 months. Yaslam, 23, is a tidy and intelligent player, technically proficient with an eye for opening up defences. Developed while alongside Abdulrahman in the Al Ain first-team and has progressed well since manager Zoran Mamic’s arrival. However, made his UAE debut only last December.

Ismail Matar
The Al Wahda forward is revered by teammates and a key contributor to the squad. At 35, his best days are behind him, but Matar is incredibly experienced and an example to his colleagues. His ability to cope with tournament football is a concern, though, despite Matar beginning the season well. Not a like-for-like replacement, although the system could be adjusted to suit.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champioons League semi-final:

First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2

Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)

MATCH INFO

Champions League quarter-final, first leg

Manchester United v Barcelona, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Match on BeIN Sports