A prominent Druze leader in southern Syria demanded on Monday the creation of a separate region for his minority community, as he seeks to unite local armed factions following sectarian violence last month.
The week of bloodshed in Suweida province began on 13 July with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces and armed groups from other parts of Syria.
Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions.
Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, one of three prominent Syrian Druze spiritual leaders, said Monday that the violence "sought to eliminate us as a Druze sect".
He called on "all free countries and people, to stand with us as the Druze sect in southern Syria, to announce a separate region to protect us", according to footage published by local news outlet Suwayda 24.
Hijri made the remarks at his headquarters in Qanawat, near Suweida city, during a reception for a delegation from the local faction Men of Dignity.
The delegation, from one of the largest armed factions in Suweida, announced its readiness to join other groups under Hijri's command.
Last week, dozens of small factions in Suweida announced they would join a new "National Guard" group, seeking to unify military efforts under Hijri.
Hijri is the most hostile of Suweida's Druze spiritual leaders towards the transitional authorities in Damascus, who took power after ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.
Despite a ceasefire in Suweida, the situation there remains tense and access to the province is difficult, with tens of thousands of people still displaced by the recent violence.
Residents have accused the authorities of imposing a blockade, which Damascus denies, citing the entry of humanitarian convoys.
On 16 August, hundreds demonstrated in Suweida calling for the right to self-determination, some waving Israeli flags.
Israel, which has its own Druze community, bombed government forces during the sectarian clashes, saying it was acting to defend the group, as well as enforce its own demands for the demilitarisation of southern Syria.
Syrian authorities have consistently rejected any decentralised government or partitioning of the country.
The Observatory has said last month's violence killed some 1,600 people, many of them Druze civilians.
(AFP)