Alawite leader rejects Syrian government report on coastal massacres
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Head of the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora, Ghazal Ghazal, declared on Friday evening that the council does not recognize the findings of the National Commission for Investigation and Fact-Finding regarding the recent massacres in Syria’s coastal regions.
“We do not recognize a commission formed to distort and conceal the truth,” Ghazal said in a video statement. “We rejected it at its inception and continue to reject it now. It was created by the very perpetrators of the crimes, to serve as a veil hiding their disgrace.”
On July 22, the National Commission released its final report on the violent incidents that took place in the coastal areas—events that left hundreds dead, many of them civilians from the Alawite community.
Ghazal called for international protection and intervention, urging the formation of independent international investigation committees.
He cited the example of the spiritual authority of the Druze community, which similarly rejected the government’s internal investigative bodies and demanded global oversight.
“The only remaining path to salvation lies in enforcing binding political solutions that meet the demands of all Syrians,” he stated, appealing to the international community for meaningful intervention and increased pressure to establish a decentralized or federal political system based on a consensual constitution.
He also demanded the release of thousands of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons, and accountability for those responsible for the massacres and other atrocities.