ALBAWABA - A security source told Al Jazeera on Saturday that growing differences have led to the suspension of a scheduled prisoner swap between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The exchange procedure has been frozen because the SDF is reportedly refusing to release prisoners that the Syrian government have requested. This is contrary to previous attempts at collaboration in Aleppo, where local leaders in the Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud areas had committed to enforcing a security pact with the SDF.
Under the agreement, which was arranged in coordination with Syria's Ministry of Interior, the internal security forces would have been able to supervise important checkpoints and a government-run security center would have been established in the two Kurdish-controlled areas.
According to Omar Halabi, Al Jazeera's reporter in Damascus, the plan is a component of a larger agreement that President Ahmad Al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed on March 10. By acknowledging the Kurdish people as an essential part of Syria, the agreement seeks to incorporate the SDF into the country's administrative and military structures.
Along with provisions for displaced Syrians to return to their homes in the northeast, the agreement also calls for the Syrian government to regain control of oil resources, airports, and border crossings that are now under SDF control.
Although there has been progress in several areas, the release of prisoners continues to be a significant issue of contention, raising doubts about the complete execution of the larger agreement, which was supposed to be finished by the end of 2025.
