There's one more reason...

Submitted by Solomon2 (United States), Jul 6, 2009 at 15:08

As part of the 1974 agreement, a zone of restricted weaponry was also put into effect. Within this area, which includes Quneitra, the Syrians cannot deploy heavy weapons. Any large-scale civil unrest would thus be difficult for the regime to control; the regime couldn't destroy a city like it did to Hama two decades ago.

Rather than have a land where people could hope to become free of Ba'athist terror, the Asad regime has chosen to keep it depopulated.

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