1st LD: Al-Qaida-linked groups prevent evacuated Shiite people from reaching Aleppo

The al-Qaida-linked groups on Saturday prevented the evacuated Shiite people from reaching their destination in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, hindering thus a deal concluded with the government, a well-informed source told Xinhua.

Around 5,000 pro-government Shiite people and fighters from the towns of Kafraya and Foa evacuated their besieged towns on Friday and headed toward the northern city of Aleppo under a deal between the government and rebels that should also see the evacuation of rebels and their families from rebel-held areas north of the capital Damascus.

The convoy of the Shiite people made a planned stop at the rebel-held town of Rashidien in Aleppo countryside, as around 2,300 rebels and their families left the Damascus' northern town of Madaya toward the northern province of Idlib and also made a stop at the government-controlled Ramouseh area in Aleppo.

Ramouseh and Rashidien are the places for the swap between both parties, but the rebels of the Front for Liberating the Levant, previously known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, prevented the busses from Kafraya and Foa from proceeding from Rashidien toward government-controlled areas in Aleppo city, and in return the government kept the busses of the rebels and their families from Madaya town from proceeding toward Idlib.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that the rebels had last minute demands and changes to the original deal, even though such changes are not yet clear.

The source added that the deal was brokered by Iran, on the government side, and Turkey and Qatar on behalf of the rebels.

He noted that the rebels' backers have apparently backed down on their pledges to see the abidance by the deal from the rebel side.

The source added that efforts are now being exerted to continue the deal in the next hours, as there are other batches from the Shiite towns and the town of Zabadani north of Damascus that are supposed to leave.

"Around 500 rebels, mainly commanders, from Zabadani, near Madaya, and 2,000 people from Kafraya and Foa are still in their places and were supposed to evacuate once the first batches arrive to their respective destinations," the source said.

The evacuation deal from Kafraya and Foa on one side, and the Madaya and Zabadani, on the rebel side, is considered the largest ever happened in Syria as the entire population of the Shiite towns will leave, as both towns are besieged by the rebels in Idlib, which has largely fallen to the militant groups.

Still, some of the Madaya people rejected to leave with the rebels and their families and chose to remain in their area with some rebels who accepted to reconcile with the government forces.

Now as Madaya is clear of the rebels rejecting to reconcile or live under the government umbrella, the Syrian army entered the area after two years of laying it under siege.

In Zabadani, the 500 people and rebel commanders are set to leave in the second batch once the snags are resolved.

This will largely contribute in expanding the security range around Damascus, particularly as Madaya and Zabadani are both close to the Lebanese borders and were conduits for the smuggling of weapons and radical fighters from Lebanon.

Still, opposition activists slammed the deal as another attempt for "demographic cleansing."

The deal's first step started Wednesday with a detainees swap between the rebels and the pro-government fighters in Idlib. Endit