The spiritual leader of Syria's Druze minority launched a scathing tirade against the new authorities in Damascus on Thursday, calling the government "extremist, wanted men", a day after a deal was signed to integrate the sect's militias into the state apparatus.
The criticism by Sheikh Hikmat Al Hijri, spiritual leader of the Druze Unitarian community in Syria and one of the most vocal critics of the post-Bashar Al Assad order, could mar attempts by the government to accommodate the country's minorities, stung by recent mass killings on the west coast.
Syria is majority Muslim. However, the future of minorities under the current administration, dominated by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), took centre stage after an estimated 1,400 people were killed in an HTS-led campaign in the coast against Alawite loyalists of the former regime last week.
"There is no concord with the existing government in Damascus. It is an extremist government in every sense of the word," Sheikh Al Hijri told a Druze delegation at his headquarters in the southern governorate of Suweida, according to footage taken at the meeting. One of his aides confirmed the footage was genuine.
"To be clear: it is a government whose members are wanted by international justice. We will not accept, as Syrians, any leniency in this regard," Sheikh Al Hijri said. HTS is classified as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US and most western countries.
"Our goal is justice and law," said Sheikh Al Hijri, who has repeatedly demanded a civil state to replace the former regime, hinting that the Druze will not accept any imposition of Islamic rule. "These are our right. So we will go towards whatever suits us as a sect and suits our priorities."
However, on Wednesday six Druze civil figures signed a handwritten agreement with a representative of Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara, stipulating that "all armed factions be organised into the Ministry of Defence", according to the text.
The deal was signed in the presence of Sheikh Al Hijri in Suweida, where most of Syria's Druze live. Members of the sect are also concentrated in the Jaramana suburb of Damascus, where three people were killed in clashes with HTS-led forces at the beginning of this month.
All personnel who had defected from the former regime's military will also join the ministry. Salaries to government personnel that have been halted since last year will be resumed and the Interior Ministry will start dealing with "the security file" in the province, according to the agreement.
It also calls for "preservation of civil peace and the stopping the transgressions on public property", meaning Druze militias that had overrun former regime barracks and other compounds must vacate them.
Although Syria has many minorities, the Druze stand out as among the smallest, with a history defined by a struggle for preservation as a sect – the hallmark of its existence in the country since arriving from Lebanon two centuries ago.
Sheikh Al Hijri is a religious figure but most Druze groups, including Rijal Al Karameh, the largest and best organised Druze armed force, refer to his opinions. Mr Al Shara heads HTS, a former offshoot of Al Qaeda. HTS, now in control of the state, spearheaded an 11-day offensive that removed former president Bashar Al Assad in December.
A member of Sheikh Hijri's inner circle told The National his remarks on Thursday were within the confines of past criticism he has made of HTS.
The agreement with Mr Al Shara, the source pointed out, lacks a timetable and could take a long time to implement in light of unresolved differences. Among them are demands that high-level administrative appointments should be reserved for the Druze.
"It is an initial agreement," he said, likening the deal to a "long term memorandum of understanding". The Druze leadership agreed to the deal on the assumption that Mr Al Shara "is committed to a civil state". On Thursday, Mr Al Shara signed a constitutional draft that sets five years as a transitional period in the country.
HTS swept from areas in northern Syria they had run in line with their strict interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence. Many of the militants view the Druze – whose religion contains elements of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism – as heretics.
However, Mr Al Shara has repeatedly signalled that no harm will come to members of the country’s many minorities unless they were complicit in the crimes of the former regime. The sect numbered about 800,000 out of Syria's 20 million population in 2010, shortly before the anti-Assad uprising and the ensuing civil war.
On Sunday, Mr Al Shara signed a deal with the mostly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces militia to end hostilities in the resource-rich eastern part of the country, reducing some of the international pressure on the authorities for their campaign on the coast. The area is the heartland of Mr Al Assad's Alawite sect, and most of the dead were Alawite civilians, executed in their homes and on the streets.
On Monday, the government called off the campaign but arbitrary killings have continued. In Moscow, a government spokesman said on Thursday 9,000 people had taken refuge from the violence at a Russian airbase on the Syrian coast.
