US-Russian Syria agreement aims at protecting Assad - al-Julani

Leader of Jabhat Fatth al-Sham Abu Muhammad al-Julani said on Saturday that the Russian-American agreement on Syria aims to protect the Assad regime-held areas and target the acting sides in Syria, Jabhat Fatth al-Sham on top of them. Then, America will target other sides such as Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam in order to carry out its political project in the region.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, al-Julani condemned the recent Russian-American agreement, accusing Washington, Moscow, and the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, of colluding with Assad regime.

Al-Julani also considered that the plan’s aim is having the regime besiege Aleppo, then a Russian-American agreement would follow, and de Mistura would announce sending humanitarian aid finally.

The leader of Jabhat Fatth al-Sham described the agreement between Moscow and Washington as a purely military agreement, stressing that it leads to the surrender of the Syrian armed opposition groups and having them lay down their arms. He added that the negotiations that de Mistura is announcing would also lead to surrender.

Al-Julani pointed out that Sunnis are in a state of loss and defense of existence against what he called “Rafidites Project", warning from the consequences of the success of such a project and its repercussion on the whole region.

In connection with the statement of the Free Syrian Army’s factions which denounced the targeting of Jabhat Fatth al-Sham by the US-led coalition, al-Julani pointed out that the factions very well know how developments on the arena would be after Fatth al-Sham is targeted. He thanked all the faction for their stances.

Al-Julani considered that America insists on targeting Jabhat Fatth al-Sham despite the measures Fatth al-Sham took such as ending ties with al-Qaeda. Fatth al-Sham’s insistence on being an active force in the arena, and the fact that it stands as an impediment in front of the project which is aimed at the surrender of the people of Syria are the reasons behind its targeting, al-Julani said. Any faction to do that role, would face the same fate, he added.

In the matter of targeting Abu Omar Saraqeb, General Commander of Jaysh al-Fatth, by Assad or US-led coalition warplanes, al-Julani pointed out that the air raids targeted the operations room of breaking Aleppo’s siege, not Abu Omar Saraqeb person personally.

The goal is to completely besiege Aleppo, al-Julani said, stating that the preliminary investigations showed that the US-led coalition warplanes are those which carried out the attacks.