05-05-2025
Druze Group ‘Rijal al-Karama' Rejects Disarmament, Calls for Weapons Regulation in Sweida
A leading Druze movement said on Sunday that the issue of surrendering arms remains unresolved, even as local leaders in southern Syria announced the official start of implementing a peace agreement brokered by Druze clerics and dignitaries in Sweida province.
Bassem Abu Fakhr, spokesman for the 'Rijal al-Karama' movement, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group's weapons were solely for defense and had never been used offensively.
'The matter of handing over weapons falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, and no final decision has been made yet,' Abu Fakhr said. 'Our arms have never posed a threat to any party. We have not attacked anyone, and our weapons exist to protect our land and honor.'
He added that while the group does not object to regulating the presence of weapons, full surrender was out of the question.
'We have no issue with organizing arms under state authority, provided they remain within the province's administrative boundaries and under state supervision,' he said. 'But the matter of weapons remains unresolved.'
Formed in 2013, Rijal al-Karama was established to protect the Druze community and prevent its youth from being conscripted into fighting for any side in Syria's protracted conflict, which erupted after mass protests against then President Bashar al-Assad.
The group continues to operate as an independent local defense force, separate from state security institutions.
Abu Fakhr told Asharq Al-Awsat that a high-level meeting held last Thursday in Sweida—attended by senior Druze spiritual leaders Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and Sheikh Hammoud al-Hanawi, along with local dignitaries and community members—resulted in an agreement to reactivate the police and judicial police under the Ministry of Interior.
Abu Fakhr also denied recent reports claiming that Druze clerics, tribal leaders, and faction commanders had agreed to fully surrender their weapons to the state.
'This issue has not been resolved by all parties in Sweida,' he said, reiterating the group's position: 'We have no objection to organizing the weapons under state oversight, as long as they remain within the administrative boundaries of the province, but not to surrendering them.'
The statement underscores continuing tensions over the role of armed groups in Sweida, a province that has largely remained outside the control of both government and opposition forces throughout Syria's civil war.
