Alleged friendliness with Syrian government: al-Sham Liberation Group plays on all ropes

After an overwhelming rejection by the citizens of Idlib in the north of Syria, Al-Sham Liberation Group controlled large parts of it, opening the commercial crossing between the cities of Saraqib and Sarmin in the eastern countryside of Idlib, which was scheduled to open on Saturday 18 April 2020.

The Syrian News Agency, SANA, confirmed that the commission tried to ignore the opinions that reject it, but that it eventually succumbed to the fait accompli and was forced to postpone, especially after the issuance of statements rejected by Syrian opposition blocs.

The blocs highlighted fears of the transmission of the novel coronavirus from the areas they control, especially as the crossing will be commercial.

In the same context, the public relations official of the commission Emad Al-Din Mujahid affirmed through one of the media platforms on the Telegram website, the authority’s intention to open a commercial crossing.

Weak excuse

Al-Sham Liberation Group justified that the opening of the crossing was due to the decline in commercial activity in Idlib Governorate due to the repeated military operations that destroyed the commercial system in the north, claiming that a large number of workers and citizens lost their businesses and their livelihood.

The commission added that many merchants demanded the opening of the commercial crossing through the Sarmin-Saraqib area, and tried to win the sympathy of the citizens, by saying that it had forgotten all the differences between it and the Syrian government for the benefit of the citizens in Idlib.

For his part, political analyst, Mukhtar Al-Ghobashy, says that the Liberation of Al-Sham Group is currently suffering a significant retreat due to the lack of Turkish support for it at the present time.

Therefore, it is trying to play on all sides, so it tried to get closer to the citizens of Idlib who reject their policy by opening a crossing that provides food commodities on the one hand, and on the other hand, they have tried to reconcile with the Syrian government by opening this crossing.