1st LD: "Permanent" ceasefire reached in 3 Syrian flashpoints

A "permanent" ceasefire was reached Sunday in Syria's Zabadani city, near Lebanese borders, and two Shiite towns in northwestern Syria, a source familiar with negotiations told Xinhua.

The ceasefire will go into effect at 12:00 pm local time (0900 GMT) simultaneously in the northwestern Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa and rebel-held town of Zabadani, as well as adjacent town of Madaya, west of the capital Damascus, said Mohammad Abu Qassem, the head of Tadamun Party, who was a mediator between the warring sides in aforementioned areas.

"It's not only a ceasefire, but a permanent solution and settlement to the situation in the Shiite towns along with Zabadani and Madaya... It's an open-ended ceasefire and it's not temporary," he said.

The negotiations, which have been taking place by an Iranian delegation representing the Syrian government and the rebels' Ahrar al-Sham movement, backed by al-Qaida-linked groups like the Nusra Front, have been ongoing for months.

The rebels wanted Syrian authorities to halt a broad offensive on rebel-held Zabadani and Madaya towns, while the Iranians and Syrian government wanted jihadi groups in the northwestern province of Idlib to halt their attacks on the Shiite towns, which have been subject to repetitive attacks and suffocating siege.

Qassem said he couldn't spell further details about the recent truce, but stressed it's more than a ceasefire, noting it's "a permanent truce and solution."

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a watchdog group, said the truce was achieved as violent battles have been raging over the past two days near Foa and Kafraya, adding that the battles killed 66 rebels and 40 Shiite fighters.

Syrian army backed by Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah has been on a shattering offensive against Sunni-led militants groups, mainly the Ahrar al-Sham Movement, in the cities of Zabadani and Madaya.

In retaliation to the government troops' offensive on Zabadani, several jihadi groups in Idlib mounted an attack against Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa.

The rebels in Idlib said they will continue attacking the Shiite towns until government troops halt their offensive on the Sunni-led insurgency in Zabadani.

Zabadani is important for Syrian army because it's the last rebel bastion of Nusra and allied militants beside Lebanese borders.

The four-year Syrian conflict has taken a sectarian turn with increasing Sunni jihadists joining the insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad's government, who belongs to the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah joined battles against the insurgency in Syria to keep radical rebels away from Lebanese border and protect Shiite community in Syria, not to mention its main ally, the Syrian administration. Endit