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WORLD NEWSWednesday 2 December

Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, is welcomed upon his arrival in Harare, Zimbabwe, AP: Deal reached in Syria’s
Tuesday, Dec. 1.2015. Jinping is in Zimbabwe for a two day State visit during which he is set to
sign some bilateral agreements aimed at strengthening relationships between the two countries. Homs for fighters to leave

(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi) ALBERT AJI
BASSEM MROUE
Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Associated Press
in cash-strapped Zimbabwe DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A deal has been reached
for thousands of insurgents to leave the last opposi-
FARAI MUTSAKA pumping in $600 million in cotton. tion-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs
Associated Press 2013, according to Chi- and for state institutions to return to the area, an op-
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) nese ambassador to Ha- China’s growth in Africa position monitoring group and a Syrian official said
— Thousands of people rare Huang Ping. Mugabe Tuesday.
lined Harare’s roads and and Xi are expected to has slowed over the past Homs residents were among the first to rise up against
welcomed Chinese presi- sign several “mega deals,” President Bashar Assad in 2011, and the city was
dent Xi Jinping, whose visit said Ping. two years as the weaken- once known as “the capital of the revolution.” Gov-
has raised hopes that Chi- Chinese nationals, Zim- ernment forces gradually retook the entire city ex-
na will help stabilize Zimba- babwean schoolchildren ing Chinese economy de- cept for the Waer neighborhood, where the latest
bwe’s faltering economy. and people wearing shirts deal was reached. The departure of the insurgents
Zimbabwean President of Mugabe’s ruling Zanu- mands fewer of Africa’s re- will leave Syria’s third largest city under complete
Robert Mugabe greeted PF party held Zimbabwe government control.
Xi at the airport, where and Chinese flags for up sources, although overall The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human
some immigration signs to 10 kilometers (6 miles) Rights said some 3,200 fighters will leave Waer for
are in Chinese, indicat- along the road to Harare trade topped $200 billion other areas in Syria held by insurgents. The group said
ing China’s importance to International Airport. Oth- the deal, agreed to by the government and several
this southern African coun- ers wore T-shirts praising last year. rebel factions, will also include a cease-fire, release
try. the friendship between of prisoners and the return of state institutions.
Xi inspected a guard of Zimbabwe and China. Mugabe, whose country is Homs Governor Talal Barrazi told The Associated Press
honor at the airport but Xi is in Zimbabwe until that the implementation of the deal will begin early
did not speak on his arrival. Wednesday before head- struggling with mass com- next week and take a maximum of two months.
He is expected to address ing to South Africa for a Assad loyalists have been blockading Waer since
a joint press conference forum on cooperation be- pany closures, high unem- early 2013, only occasionally allowing in food. The
with Mugabe after signing tween Africa and China as area has seen sporadic clashes over the past two
economic deals later on he works to strengthen ties ployment, low liquidity and years.
Tuesday. with this continent that is Barrazi said some 60,000 people are still living in Waer,
China is Zimbabwe’s big- a key supplier to Beijing of foreign direct investment and that after the militants leave it will be easier to
gest foreign investor, oil, minerals, tobacco and send food and other supplies into the neighborhood.
and food shortages, has He added that an aid convoy entered Waer on Mon-
day and another was sent in last week.
said he and the Chinese Waer-based opposition activist Bebars al-Talawy said
there are about 45 militant factions in Waer and they
leader will discuss “some all agreed to the deal. He said the most prominent
are al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front, as well
of the projects and pro- as the powerful ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham.
In May 2014, some 1,200 fighters and civilians left
grams we want China to central Homs in a similar deal. On Monday, some 100
opposition fighters left the western Damascus suburb
assist us in undertaking.” of Qudsaya as part of a deal to return the area to
government control, state news agency SANA said.
China’s imports from Zim- It added that more fighters will leave on Tuesday. Syr-
ia’s conflict has killed more than 250,000 people and
babwe include gold, generated more than four million refugees. Hundreds
of thousands of Syrians have fled to Europe in recent
diamonds, platinum, months, part of the largest refugee flow since World
War II. In an interview with Czech TV aired Tuesday,
tobacco, nickel and Assad said there could be “terrorists” among those
fleeing the civil war.q
chrome. China has invest-

ed in construction, energy

and telecommunications

projects in Zimbabwe.q