US Syria envoy Tom Barrack met the leader of Kurdish-led forces in Syria's northeast General Mazloum Abdi on Saturday amid ongoing sectarian violence in the south of the country that has killed hundreds of people over the past week.
The two officials met to "discuss the current situation in Syria and the need for urgent steps to restore calm and stability," the US embassy in Damascus said Saturday.
"They also discussed practical steps towards integration into a unified Syria for a peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and stable future for all Syrians. They agreed the time for unity is now," the statement said.
Barrack has led the Trump administration’s efforts to broker an agreement between Damascus and Syria’s autonomous Kurdish region and reunify the country following 14 years of civil war.
Months of talks have failed to produce an agreement to reintegrate Kurdish armed groups into the Syrian army and hand control of local institutions to the central government.
The Kurds and the Druze have been reluctant to cede control of their respective regions to Damascus following the coming to power of the Islamist-led government in December.
Minority communities are concerned about Sunni sectarianism among the country’s new leaders and their commitment to inclusive rule.
Suweida ceasefire efforts
The talks came as Bedouin and Druze armed groups continued to clash in Suweida in southern Syria amid international efforts to broker an end to the fighting.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the province over the past week as violence raged between Druze militia, Bedouin tribes and pro-government forces.
All sides have been accused of committing abuses against civilians, including summary executions, arson and looting.
Tribal forces said on Saturday that they were withdrawing from the city shortly after President al-Sharaa announced an "immediate ceasefire".
The interior ministry said the clashes had stopped after its security forces entered the city.
Israel earlier this week intervened in the conflict under the pretext of protecting the Druze, launching an unprecedented series of airstrikes in central Damascus and hitting dozens of Syrian military targets in the south of the country.
In a social media post on Sunday, Barrack called on all sides to "immediately lay down their arms, cease hostilities, and abandon cycles of tribal violence, " Barrack wrote in a social media post on Sunday.
Earlier efforts to broker a ceasefire were thwarted by a Druze faction led by Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who refused to end the fighting and accused the central government of attempting to exterminate the minority community.