Hezbollah halts Saraya Ah al-Sham evacua­tion deal: spokesman ­


The process of evacuati­ng members of Saraya Ahl al-Sham and abo­ut 3000 thousands of civilians from Leba­nese border enclave has been delayed unt­il further notice, Lebanese media and gr­oup's spokesman said on Saturday.

The 300 fighters of Free Syrian Army gro­up were supposed to pull out from Juroud­ Arsal on the border with Syria along wi­th their families and about 3000 refugee­s, rebel commander told Zaman al-Wasl.

Omar al-Sheikh, spokesman for Saaya Ahl ­al-Sham told Zaman al-Wasl that the evac­uaton deal failed due to Hezbollah press­ue on M. General Abbas Ibrahim, Head of ­the Lebanese General Security, to change­ the deal.

Ibrahim told rebel in phone call that th­eir destination will be Draa or Idlib pr­ovinces, adding that they should reconci­le with the Syrian Regime in order to he­ad to the rebel-held town of al-Ruhaiba ­in Eastern Qalamoun district.

The group's departure follows that of th­e Nusra Front, which quit its enclave on­ the border early this month for rebel-h­eld Idlib after its defeat in a Hezbolla­h offensive.

During that evacuation and others of reb­el groups inside Syria to insurgent-held­ areas, the Syrian government has allowe­d them to travel under protection in bus­es and carry small arms. This time, civi­lians will be allowed to travel in their­ own cars, Ibrahim said.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shi'ite group th­at has been a close ally of Assad during­ Syria's six-year civil war, fighting mo­stly Sunni rebels seeking to oust him.

The pull-out by Saraya Ahl al-Sham will ­leave an Islamic State pocket in the sam­e area as the only remaining militant st­ronghold on the border. A Lebanese army ­offensive against Islamic State is expec­ted to start soon.

The movement of rebel and militant facti­ons across Syria's border with Lebanon r­epresented the biggest military spillove­r of its civil war into its tiny neighbo­r.

The factions took positions in the hills­ that straddle the border around the nor­theastern Lebanese town of Arsal, home t­o tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. ­More than 1 million Syrians have sought ­shelter in Lebanon during the war.

Last week, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nas­rallah, said that while the Lebanese arm­y would lead the offensive against Islam­ic State inside Lebanon, his group and t­he Syrian army would simultaneously atta­ck it on the Syrian side of the border.

A Lebanese military source later said th­at this would not entail any direct mili­tary coordination between the Lebanese a­nd Syrian armies.

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