Prominent Syrian Druze religious leader Hikmat Hijri has called for the establishment of a separate region in the southern province of Sweida and has welcomed the creation of a “national guard” under his control.
He was speaking on Monday while receiving a delegation from the Men of Dignity movement, a key armed faction which has integrated its forces with those under Mr Hijri’s command.
He urged “honourable people around the world and free nations” to support self-rule in Druze majority Sweida province. Mr Hijri said the Druze path “begins under a new banner after the recent ordeal that aimed to exterminate the Druze community in Syria”.
On August 16th, hundreds of Druze marched in Sweida city demanding self-determination. The federal government and Sunni Muslims in the region have rejected separatism and federalism.
READ MORE
The creation of a Druze national guard came in response to a week of clashes in July between fighters from the minority Druze community and Sunni tribal gunmen who swept into Sweida from the east.
The Syrian army joined the attack on the Druze, prompting the Israeli air force to strike army units en route to Sweida.
As many as 1,600 people were killed, mostly Druze civilians, before a ceasefire was imposed on July 20th, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.
Of Syria’s three senior Druze religious figures, Mr Hijri is regarded as the most dedicated opponent of the interim government in Damascus, which is dominated by the Sunni fundamentalist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement.
After seizing power last December from the Assad dynasty, which had reigned for 56 years, HTS was accused of failing to deliver on its pledge of inclusive governance.
Syria is home to the world’s largest community of Druze, a monotheistic non-Muslim sect, which numbers about 700,000 in that country.
While Druze are scattered throughout Syria, the majority live in Sweida and Jabal Druze, where they constitute an overwhelming majority.
Syrian Sunni Kurds have also challenged HTS in the northeastern provinces of Hasaka and Raqqa. In 2014 they established an autonomous administration in the territory, which contains its oil fields.
The region has been occupied by the Kurd-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces which were allied with the US-led coalition that fought Islamic State.
While HTS seeks to reintegrate this area with the rest of Syria, the Kurds insist on preserving their political and military autonomy.
As the HTS government and military forces have failed to impose order in all of Syria, next month’s parliamentary election is set to exclude the three provinces held by the Druze and Kurds.
