Opening Homs-Hama road proving tricky for all sides in Syria
Conflicting reports about the opening of the Homs-Hama road have been issued as both the Syrian regime and opposition look to leverage the strategic route.
DAMASCUS, Syria — The Homs-Hama road has been closed ever since military operations started between the regime and the opposition in mid-2011, when it was replaced by the bumpy Hama-Salamiyah road in the east.
On Sept. 10, in a bid to reopen the closed international road, negotiations were held held between the Syrian opposition and the regime, under Russian sponsorship, without any results being reached.
A source close to the opposition delegation at the negotiations told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “The regime is hampering the opening of the road by rejecting one of our main conditions, which is the release of detainees. It seems the regime wants the opposition to hand over its weapons and abandon its lands first, just like what happened in other Syrian regions. We will not accept this. Our main objective is not to open humanitarian corridors. This has been already imposed by the opposition on the regime, in exchange for the opposition forces keeping the strategic Musiaf-Tartous road to the regime and its militias.”
The Russian version of the story is different. On Sept. 11, the Russia Today news website published a video allegedly showing the arrival of Russian humanitarian aid to the city of Rastan after what was termed the recent reopening of the Homs-Hama road.
