US offers incentives to Syria to back off from fighting minorities

Washington proposes 'Friends of Syria' coalition to support recovery, The National has learnt

US envoy Tom Barrack is in Jordan for talks with Syria's regime. Reuters

The US is to offer incentives to Syria to step back from conflicts with minorities in a move to stabilise the country, as the two sides meet in Jordan.

Sectarian violence in the south of Syria between loyalist Sunni forces and the Druze minority has threatened to undermine a burgeoning alliance with Washington, which has pulled Syria closer to the West than at any time in its turbulent history as a modern nation.

Sources dealing with Syrian issues in Jordan told The National that the US has offered to form an international Friends of Syria coalition to support recovery and reconstruction, in return for concessions on domestic policy.

Syria, Jordan and US to form working group to oversee Sweida truce

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Amman hosted a meeting between US envoy Tom Barrack and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani on Tuesday to discuss the violence in Sweida. The countries agreed to set up a working group to ensure calm.

Jordan's King Abdullah II separately met with Mr Al Shibani and Mr Barrack and expressed his "support for Syria's efforts to preserve its security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity".

King Abdullah said Jordan was ready to "share its expertise in all fields" to help develop the Syrian state, official media said. It said he called for greater Jordan-Syria co-operation in fighting terrorism and drugs smuggling.

Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, in Amman with Tom Barrack, US special envoy for Syria, discussing stability and security under the new authorities in Damascus. Photo: Jordanian Royal Hashemite Court / AFP

In particular, sources say, Washington wants an inclusive Syrian government and security forces, instead of a Sunni-heavy security apparatus with very few non-Sunnis in any senior positions in the state.

The Druze in Sweida and Kurds in eastern Syria have clashed with the post-Bashar Al Assad government after demanding a civil constitution and limits to the powers of the new, Sunni-dominated order.

“The American idea is to form a Friends of Syria group of nations who would encourage Damascus to change course," a second source said. “No one wants to see continued destabilisation in Syria, not even Israel."

In return, the source said, Damascus would be expected to purge militants in the security forces, rein in paramilitary groups and appoint technocrats to the government instead of having former rebel commanders oversee departments. The US, Jordan, Turkey and Gulf states would form the core of this group.

The recent fighting in Sweida was the costliest violence for the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham government since it assumed power. HTS, a splinter group of Al Qaeda, ousted the Assad regime in an 11-day offensive in December.

A flurry of violence in Sweida last month cast doubt on the Syrian regime's ability to hold the country together. Reuters

Sweida remains surrounded by forces loyal to Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara. Allowing the population of the governorate to resume normal life, including unfettered access to Damascus, is a key US demand, the source said.

The offensive in Sweida has also raised fears among other minorities, especially after the mass killings of Alawite civilians in March, and cast doubt on Mr Al Shara’s ability to unify the country after a 13-year civil war under the previous regime. Attacks by Israel on Mr Al Shara's loyalists pushed Syrian troops back but they remain within close range of Sweida city, the provincial capital.

“If Al Shara keeps letting the militants run the show, the government will self-destruct,” said another source, who highlighted Israeli incursions into southern Syria and its ability "to capture the south easily".

In this case, the source warned, Mr Al Shara would lose control of the south, the Kurds in the east would be emboldened and Syria would return to a period of "proxy war and suicide bombings".

In the latest clashes, a Syrian soldier was killed in fighting with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Aleppo, official media said on Tuesday. It said the SDF had tried to infiltrate government positions in the east of the city.

The clashes are the latest between the Syrian army and SDF to set back hopes of maintaining a truce agreed on in March by the new regime in Damascus. US-sponsored talks between the two sides faltered last month. The Syrian government and the US-backed SDF, which fought against ISIS during the civil war, have blamed each other for starting the latest hostilities.

A March deal for the Syrian Democratic Forces to merge into the regular military has frayed in recent months. EPA

At the Amman meeting the three representatives welcomed the Syrian government's “efforts” in restoring services, the return of refugees, and “holding perpetrators of violations accountable”, the Syrian statement said.

The officials spoke about various issues, particularly supporting Syria’s postwar reconstruction and “ensuring its security, stability and sovereignty”, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said. Promoting the rights of all Syrians and consolidating the ceasefire in Sweida were other matters to be discussed, it added.

The US is trying to save the Syrian government "from itself", said the source who warned of proxy war. US President Donald Trump started establishing ties with Damascus in May on the urging of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, two key regional supporters of Mr Al Shara.

Mr Trump announced the lifting of sanctions a day before meeting Mr Al Shara, a former prisoner of US forces in the Middle East. The US president hailed Syria's new leader as a "tough guy" with a "very strong past".

Since then Syria has struck several lucrative investment deals, including with Gulf countries, in a push for economic recovery from the civil war. A $14 billion package of deals signed last week included plans to upgrade Damascus airport and revive proposals for a possible metro system in the capital. The UN has estimated that Syria's postwar reconstruction will cost more than $400 billion.

A Jordanian source, who requested anonymity, said stabilisation was key to preventing any confrontation between Turkey and Israel. They pointed out the presence of thousands of Turkish troops in Syria, although they are deployed mainly in the north.

"The last thing Jordan wants to see" is an armed Israeli-Turkish confrontation near its border, the source said. "No one is very happy with Al Shara but no one wants to see him really fail."