Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The Syrian interim government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has reached an agreement with Druze representatives from Sweida province to integrate the community into state institutions, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya reported Tuesday, citing informed sources.
Al-Arabiya also reported the information, but a Lebanese source closely following the case said that it was, for the moment, an agreement in principle to be formalized. According to this source, discussions took place on Monday in Damascus between Sharaa and a group of "Druze notables and intellectuals from Sweida."
"The discussions were very frank and the Druze representatives expressed their concerns about the fate of minorities in Syria, in the context of recent events," they explained. Several days of clashes between fighters loyal to the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad and the new Syrian security forces in the west of the country left around 1,000 dead between last Thursday and Monday.
According to the same source, Sharaa "showed understanding," and the foundations of an engagement were laid.
"The Druze participants in the meeting left to present the results of this meeting to members of their community and will return to formalize the agreement once this step has been completed, so as not to unilaterally engage the Druze of Sweida."
Under the agreement, Sweida’s security services will be integrated under the authority of the Interior Ministry, and local police officers will be recruited from the southern province, the same sources said.
The government will also appoint a governor and a police chief, who will not necessarily be from Sweida. Sharaa met with the province’s governor, Mustafa al-Bakour, and local activists at the People's Palace in Damascus, according to the state-run Syrian news agency SANA.
The Syrian presidency, which aims to unify a country fractured by 13 years of civil war, on Monday announced a separate agreement to integrate all civilian and military institutions under the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northern and eastern Syria.