https://twitter.com/HalaJaber/statuses/464052929620869120
Syrian rebels have ceded the central city of Homs to the regime:
Rebels are attempting to portray the deal less as a military defeat and more as a strategic compromise. Anti-regime activists say that besieged residents have been so weakened by the siege, which has caused chronic shortages of food there. “Revolutionaries inside have nothing at all. You would think it’s impossible for them to survive, but they did for two years,” says Samer al-Homsi, a 27-year-old activist in Homs who goes by a pseudonym to protect his identity. “At this point, they are facing sure death so it’s best for them to leave and maybe resume the fight later. For them it does feel like a victory that they’ve managed to survive.”
In practical terms, the deal appears to offer the best possible outcome for the rebels considering their position, says Syria analyst Noah Bonsey of the International Crisis Group. “Given that rebels lacked the means to gain ground within the city or to secure their exit militarily, this safe passage holds clear value.” Still, says al-Homsi, the capitulation will be a permanent “lump lodged in the rebels’ throats. Homs was known as the capital of the revolution.”
The regime is being unusually magnanimous:
As part of the truce, rebels were allowed to leave the besieged city peacefully under the supervision of regime forces and UN delegates; they were also permitted to keep their personal weapons. The rebels promised to open a safe passage to allow for food and medical aid to reach the government-controlled enclaves of Nubul and Zahraa outside the northern city of Aleppo, another big battleground. For months, rebels had blocked access to these two cities.
To uphold its end of the deal, the government promised to grant amnesty to 50 people who defected from the regime to the rebel forces in Homs. The government also promised not to arrest the rebels once they reached regime checkpoints; earlier this year, a more limited evacuation led to the detainment of several rebels at checkpoints.
Juan Cole explains the strategic significance of the city:
The rebel strategy last year this time was to take Homs (they held part of the city) and its hinterland, towns like al-Qusayr. The rebels, mainly Sunni Arabs and increasingly leaning toward extremist groups, hoped to use their dominance of Homs to cut Damascus off from both Latakia and from the Lebanese ports. At the same time, they intended to take the airports, including small military ones, so as to prevent resupply by air from Russia and Iran. Damascus would be under siege and gradually would weaken and ultimately surrender.
The rebel plan was defeated by several regime responses.
The Dish 