Al-Hilali: The resolution of the prisoners' file is soon and  the January 29 agreement is ongoing

The spokesman for the presidential team in charge of following up on the implementation of the January 29 agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF said  that the prisoners' file is close to being decided, explaining that the prisoner exchange stage is behind the concerned parties after the government took over the full management of prisons.

 Spokesman Ahmed al-Hilali said, according to the Kurdish news agency "North Press", that the Ministry of Justice will begin studying the files of the detainees through its legal office, with a pledge to speed up the procedures, stressing that all former members of the SDF who were in government prisons will be released.

In the context of the implementation of the agreement, the Syrian government has released hundreds of detainees from former members of the SDF in recent weeks, while the latter has released batches of its detainees from Arab regions, although the number of detainees in its prisons is still estimated at thousands, according to local estimates, and the  people of Arab tribes and tribes continue to demand the disclosure of the fate of their detained sons.

Al-Hilali pointed out that the tension that accompanied the handover of the judicial palace in Qamishli prompted the holding of an urgent meeting that included Mazloum Abdi and the presidential envoy, Brigadier General Ziad Al-Ayesh, during which the causes of the dispute were discussed and ways to address it, and another meeting was held with the governor of Al-Hasakah, Noureddine Ahmed and advisors from the "Autonomous Administration", and an "actionable vision" was developed this week to be presented to Justice Minister Mazhar Lewis.

Al-Hilali concluded by stressing that the two parties, the Syrian government and the SDF, are committed to the implementation of the agreement, and that the obstacles that appear "do not reflect a difference of political will", but are linked to parties whose interests may be harmed or to technical details that are being worked overcome.

The Autonomous Administration prevents judges from entering the Judicial Palace in Al-Hasakah

On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, the so-called "Autonomous Administration" in northeastern Syria prevented judges and employees of the Ministry of Justice from entering the judicial palace in the city of Al-Hasakah on April 21, 2026, in a step that is considered an escalation that may hinder the integration of institutions in implementation of the January 29 agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF.

This measure came after government employees arrived at the Justice Palace building to start work, before the security forces of the "Autonomous Administration" informed them of the ban, which led to the suspension of movement inside the building and the complete suspension of judicial work, according to local sources.

The sources added that the decision to ban came against the background of disagreements on the issue of the integration of judicial cadres, as the "Autonomous Administration" believes that the integration of its cadres should be done "completely and without exception", while the Syrian government insists on adopting a selective mechanism that includes the re-evaluation of employees and determining the needs of the official judicial staff, which led to the stalled implementation of the agreement.

"Massad" turns against the January 29 agreement

On Tuesday (April 21st), a group affiliated with the SDF  advanced towards oil wells in the village of Sahrij in the countryside of the town of al-Yarubiya, northeast of al-Hasakah, which led to the outbreak of clashes in the area, according to local sources.

In an escalatory step that appears to be a coup against the January 29 agreement, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) announced on Tuesday (April 21st)  its adherence to a decentralized system, demanding that the security and military forces be kept under the administration of the "Autonomous Administration" in the areas under its control.

This came in the words of the head of relations at the SDF, Hassan Mohammed Ali, who stressed in a statement on Tuesday the need for "the military and security forces to be affiliated with the Autonomous Administration and not to Damascus," while the January 29 agreement stipulated the integration of the institutions of the Autonomous Administration and the introduction of government security forces in the cities of Al-Hasakah and Qamishli, which reflects the direction of the SDF towards establishing the model of self-administration as a fait accompli in any future political settlement in Syria.