A council member of Douma in Eastern Ghouta has said reports of a deal to surrender the opposition-controlled town to the Syrian regime are not true.

Iyad Abdelaziz was quoted as saying by The Associated Press news agency on Sunday that there was no agreement reached to have the Jaish al-Islam opposition group leave Douma for north Syria and hand over the town to regime forces.

He added, however, that "humanitarian cases" would be allowed to evacuate on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, Syrian state news agency had reported that Jaish al-Islam, which controls Douma, the largest city in Ghouta, had reached a deal with the Syrian regime to leave for opposition-held areas in northern Syria.

However, Jaish al-Islam has yet to confirm the report and only said on Saturday that it had agreed to evacuate the wounded to Idlib in northwestern Syria.

Also on Sunday, Hezbollah media said that an agreement had been reached with the opposition group to evacuate fighters to Jarablus, a town in northern Syria near the border with Turkey.

Jaish al-Islam has been in Russian-brokered negotiations with the Syrian regime for several days now.

The regime has threatened to storm the city if opposition did not agree to surrender the last patch in the enclave in exchange for safe passage to Idlib.

Hamza Berakdar, spokesperson for Jaish al-Islam, said on Saturday that the armed opposition in Douma refused to leave in what he called a forced displacement.

"Our position is consistent and clear," he said. "We refuse to be forcibly displaced and demographic change in Eastern Ghouta."

Later on the same day, the head of Jaish al-Islam's political office, Yaser Dilwan, said that negotiations were ongoing and seemed optimistic, but did not offer any details other than to say that different options were suggested.

The comments came on the same day the Syrian regime army had declared "victory" against opposition groups in Eastern Ghouta.

An estimated 140,000 people remain inside Douma, with limited access to food, water and medical supplies.

Eastern Ghouta was taken over by opposition groups in mid-2013, resulting in the Syrian regime besieging the area since then.

At least 1,600 people have been killed following the launch of an aerial and ground offensive by Syrian regime forces and their ally, Russia, on February 18, to recapture what was once known as Damascus' breadbasket.

Last week, two opposition groups reached an evacuation deal with the Russian army, which resulted in about 19,000 people leaving for the northern province of Idlib. They included fighters from the Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham opposition groups, their families and other residents.

PHOTO CAPTION

Syrian regime forces were seen around buses carry civilian and opposition forces outside Harasta in Eastern Ghouta on March [Reuters]

Al-Jazeera