Syria: contacts between US politicians and the Druze leader to support the ongoing protests in Suwayda

Three members of the United States House of Representatives, Republicans Joe wilson and French Hill and the Democrat Brendan Boyle, this week had telephone contact with the Druze leader Hikmat al Hijri, who since last September 13th has declared his support for the demonstrators who have been protesting for over a month in Suwayda, the capital of the homonymous governorate of southern Syria, for political change. To the Emirati newspaper “The National”, Boyle he said he “reaffirmed the cross-party support from the US Congress for the peaceful protests in Suwayda and Deraa” during his conversation with the Druze leader. “As co-chair of the Group of Friends of Free, Stable and Democratic Syria, I had the pleasure of briefly discussing with Sheikh Hikmat al Hijri, I encourage my colleagues in the House and Senate to do the same,” he explained . The protests of Suwayda, in fact, which began mainly with the request for an improvement in living conditions, have witnessed a progressive prevalence of political demands over economic ones.

Among the slogans chanted by the demonstrators, therefore, those praising the resignation of the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, a democratic political transition and a decentralized political order have gradually become the majority, based on resolution number 2254 of the United Nations Security Council United.

A source within Hill's office told "The National" that, during the conversation with Al Hijri, the US congressman discussed the "frustration of the local population" and how the Druze leader "is worried about his safety ”. Furthermore, the same source added, “Al Hijri reported that the Assad regime is cutting access to water and electricity and mentioned the trafficking of Captagon”, a narcotic based on fenethylline (a synthetic drug amphetamine family). Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Washington-based Syrian Emergency Task Force, which made telephone contact between US lawmakers and the Druze leader possible and personally witnessed them, told “The National” that the talks seemed like “a conversation among friends".