Druze demand self determination in largest protest held since deadly clashes in Syria

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Syria’s southern city of Sweida and elsewhere on Saturday to demand the right to self determination for the Druze minority, in the largest protests to take place since deadly clashes in the area last month. The transition has proven fragile, with renewed violence erupting in March along the coast and in July in Sweida, a city with a significant Druze population, highlighting the continued threat to peace after years of civil war. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian war monitor, said the protesters expressed their rejection of the interim central government in Damascus and demanded that those responsible for atrocities against Druze be brought to justice.