Druze leaders call for protests to remain peaceful in Syria’s Suwayda
SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – Religious leaders from Suwayda Governorate, southern Syria, emphasized on Wednesday, that protests remain peaceful after members of the Baath Party Branch shot at the protesters.
Guards of the Baath Party Branch in Suwayda shot at protesters attempting to close the headquarters of the ruling party in tandem with protests that have been ongoing in the city for about a month.
The Druze religious leader, Sheikh al-Aql Hikmat al-Hajri, told North Press correspondent after residents gathered at his residence, “We will not escalate the situation now. We will only hold the perpetrators accountable after confirming their identities and names.”
The al-Hajri noted that Iran is involved in fueling the conflict. “Iran is an occupying state, and Iranian-backed militias are responsible for corruption and vandalism. Hezbollah is one of Iran’s tools used for occupation,” he said.
“What happened in the party’s branch in Suwayda is a cowardly act by individuals who betrayed their country and their people and obeyed the orders of this regime. They shot at unarmed protesters and wounded three individuals of Ahrar al-Jabal movement,” the Sheikh al-Karama Movement said in a statement.
The statement stressed that the movement “complies with the desire of al-Hajri and Sheikh Abu Wael Hamoud al-Hanawi not to involve the governorate in shedding of blood and not drag the movement towards militarization, which the regime is striving for to undermine the peaceful movement that demanded the regime and its followers to leave.”
“This time our sheikhs’ call played a significant role in calming the situation. However, if these aggressions against our people and Ahrar al-Jabal Movement occur again, the branch and its members will have no place in Jabal al-Druze,” the statement noted.