US-mediated integration talks between Syria’s transitional government and the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria have ground to a halt. No reason has been offered by Damascus or Washington for the pause, Syrian Kurdish officials say, but the clock is ticking. The March 10 agreement signed between Mazlum Kobane, commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, set a December deadline for agreeing on a detailed integration plan. The two leaders last met on Oct. 7 in Damascus, along with US Syria envoy Tom Barrack and CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper.

Background 

One of the thorniest issues in the talks is the integration of the SDF into Syria’s national army, which is still in the process of being formed. The SDF counts around 70,000 men and women in its ranks and has received years of US training as part of the US-led coalition’s ongoing efforts to stamp out all remnants of the Islamic State.

Another is the issue of how Syria should be governed. The Kurds insist on a decentralized model of government, saying this would be best suited to the ethnic and religious confessional makeup of the country.