Syria, Jordan, US agree on plan to restore stability in Sweida after deadly clashes
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria, Jordan and the United States agreed Tuesday on a roadmap to restore security in a southern Syrian region that saw deadly sectarian clashes in July, including plans to guard main roads and prosecute those who incited violence.
The days of fighting between members of the country’s Druze minority sect and members of local Bedouin tribes in the Sweida region left hundreds of people dead. Mistrust remains, and some Druze have been demanding self determination.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told reporters at a news conference in Damascus that the agreement among the three countries includes moves to prosecute those who were involved in inciting the deadly clashes.
It also includes allowing aid to flow into Sweida, restoring services, deploying security forces on main roads in the tense region and working to reveal the fate of missing people and begin a process of internal reconciliation, he said.
He also said the government was working on a plan for the return of those displaced by the violence, who number more than 160,000, according to U.N. figures. They include Druze internally displaced within Sweida and Bedouins who fled or were evacuated from the province and now see little prospect of going back
He did not give details on how these steps would be achieved.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters at the news conference with al-Shibani and U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack that the security of southern Syria is linked to the security of Jordan.
Jordan borders Sweida province and has spent years fighting drug and weapons smuggling from its northern neighbor.
The clashes erupted on July 13 between Druze militias and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes in Sweida. Government forces then intervened, nominally to restore order, but ended up essentially siding with the Bedouins against the Druze. Atrocities were committed during the days of clashes.
Israel intervened in defense of the Druze, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even striking the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus.
The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Over half of the roughly 1 million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.
By GHAITH ALSAYED
Associated Press
