Can Syria be unified?

"Deepening instability, minority distrust and foreign meddling test Damascus's grip on a fractured state. In recent days, leaked recordings and documents have provided the rough outline of a conspiracy to launch an insurgency in the Alawite-dominated coastal region of Syria. Behind the plan are a number of high-level officials of the former regime of Bashar al-Assad living in exile. The leaks reveal the recruitment of fighters within the Alawite community, the movement and storage of weapons, and the transfer of payments to their families."

"The revelations come months after an insurrection staged in the coastal region in March led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people, including civilians, government troops and Alawite fighters. Similar violence erupted again in July in Suwayda, the Druze stronghold in southern Syria where several hundred Druze civilians were killed as government forces tried unsuccessfully to restore order after clashes between Sunni tribes and Druze militias."

Leaked recordings and documents reveal a conspiracy by exiled high-level former regime officials to launch an insurgency in the Alawite-dominated coastal region. The plan includes recruiting fighters within the Alawite community, moving and storing weapons, and transferring payments to fighters' families. The revelations follow a March coastal insurrection that killed more than 1,000 people and renewed violence in July in Suwayda, where several hundred Druze civilians were killed. There have also been sporadic clashes between the Syrian Democratic Forces and government troops despite a March 10 integration agreement. Concerns are growing that minority-dominated regions could be carved out, undermining state consolidation and territorial integrity. Most Alawites appear resigned to new authorities while a small number of die-hard figures still harbour ambitions of a coastal enclave, though regime remnants remain far from successful.

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