Syria has sought to push forward a roadmap for resolving what it calls the “Crisis in Sweida and Stabilizing Southern Syria.”
The deal follows months of clashes between the Druze minority in Syria and other groups, primarily Bedouin tribesmen. This boiled over in July, and the government was accused of not doing enough to defend the Druze.
Israel has vowed to defend the Druze in Suweida in southern Syria, even bombing Damascus as a warning to deter attacks on the group, and US members of Congress and others have also expressed concern.
Now, Syria seems to have hammered out a new deal. The reports in Syrian media say that a “tripartite meeting in Damascus [took place] on Tuesday among Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and US Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack.”
The full text includes many sections. It says, among other things, that “Syria’s stability, security, and prosperity are a cornerstone of regional stability. The Syrian Arab Republic, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and the United States of America affirm their commitment to work together in genuine partnership to help Syria build a future of peace and stability for all its people.”
The new plan says that Jordan, the US, and Syria “will support efforts to rebuild Syria on foundations that preserve its security, stability, unity, and sovereignty, and that meet the aspirations of all Syrians and protect their rights.”
Furthermore, “Jordan and the United States will support the Syrian government in overcoming the challenges that hinder this process, including in the fields of reconstruction, institution-building, combating terrorism and extremism, ending societal disputes, and achieving national reconciliation.”
Roadmap calls for withdrawing civilian fighters
The new roadmap also says that “the Syrian government calls on the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic to conduct an investigation into the regrettable occurrences Sweida governorate has witnessed recently, and the Syrian government is committed to holding all perpetrators of violations accountable, according to the Syrian law."
Israel is likely not included because Israel and Syria do not have normalized ties.
“Jordan, in coordination with the Syrian Arab Republic, will invite a delegation representing the local communities in Sweida (Druze, Christians, and Sunnis), and another delegation of representatives of the Bedouin tribes in Sweida governorate to meetings to help achieve reconciliation,” the plan says.
The above paragraph appears to be the one mention of the Druze by name in the document.
A local police force from all the communities will be formed, the document says. “In coordination with the local community in Sweida, a provincial council representing all components of the local community in Sweida will be formed."
"The council will be tasked with interacting with the Syrian government and leading efforts to achieve national reconciliation,” the plan adds.
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack praised Syria for its work on the plan. “The building blocks of trust, of confidence, of understanding, they take inches, centimeters, and decades to build, and can be lost in an instant,” Barrack said.
“What we are seeing today is an architecture, a roadmap, a GPS to build that highway for generations." The US is dedicated to helping Syria rebuild, he noted.