FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Will Trump and Putin Announce a Peace and Development Package for Southwest Asia?
June 29, 2018 (EIRNS)—Numerous reports have emerged over the past few days indicating that a deal may be in the works between the U.S. and Russia for the Southwest Asia region, some elements of which may already be operative in southern Syria. Retired DIA Middle East expert Col. W. Patrick Lang, writing on his “Sic Semper Tyrannis” blog on June 27, states that the “grand bargain” that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to work out with Russian President Vladimir Putin includes the following elements:
- Peace in Syria in the context of abandonment of regime change;
- The U.S. has made it clear that the Syrian Arab Army, with Russian backing, now has a free hand in southwest Syria in return for Russia keeping Lebanese Hezbollah and other Iran-backed Shi’ite militias out of the fight; and
- The Egyptian government has been talking to Hamas about their willingness to enter into a hudna (religiously sanctioned truce) with Israel in a deal that would include a Gaza-Egyptian industrial zone in the Gaza’s border area of Rafah, an airport, and a seaport, in return for which Hamas would be expected to police the truce.
