Thousands of Syrian Druze held funerals for four members of their community killed while attacking a government loyalist militia in the sect’s stronghold in the south of the country, an activist organisation said.
The attack this week by Druze fighters opposed to the regime of Bashar Al Assad dealt a defeat to a militia linked to Syrian Military Intelligence, one of the country’s most feared security divisions, in the governorate of Suweida on the border with Jordan.
It tilted a local balance of power held for years in Suweida by pro-Assad militias in favour of vigilante groups formed by the local population to combat regime-linked criminal rings and check loyalist forces.
The loyalist militia is headed by Raji Falhout, a pro-regime enforcer in Suweida who is on the run. Residents say he has attracted so much popular hatred that even pro-regime Druze elders supported the attack to expel his group from the district.
Suwaida24, a local news organisation run by young activists, shared on Whatsapp footage purportedly showing a large crowd attending the funeral of three of the fighters in the town of Shahba. Another fighter was buried in Suweida city, the capital of the province, also known as the Druze Mountain.
Many mourners were dressed in traditional black clothes, with white and red turbans. The horizontally coloured Druze flag fluttered over the procession.
A member of the Khatib family, to whom one of the dead fighters belonged, addressed the funeral and said the Falhout militia had terrorised Suweida “with cover from the authorities”.
“This is not how you reward the [Druze] Mountain, this is not how you reward the descendants of Sultan Basha Al Atrash,” the speaker said.
He was referring to the Druze figure who led the Great Syrian Revolt from 1925 to 1927 against French rule, which became a symbol of Arab nationalism despite its failure.
Syria is majority Sunni and the Druze are a tiny minority who constituted about 3 per cent of the country’s 20 million population in 2010, the last year of reliable data.
But the Druze have not sided as strongly as other minorities with the Alawite-dominated regime since the outbreak of the revolt against the Assad family rule in March 2011 and the ensuing civil war.
Rayyan Maarouf from Suwaida24 said the Falhout militia had become hated to such a degree that the regime “sacrificed it”.
“What has happened in Suweida in the last few days has been an uprising,” he said.
The militia reportedly lost at least nine men in the fighting and was forced to abandon all its buildings and road blocks.
But an opposition source in Amman who has been studying the events in Suweida said the regime would seek to avenge its defeat or it would appear weak in the area, which constitutes a main supply line between Damascus and loyalist forces in the south.
“The regime will respond,” he said. "It cannot afford to lose its authority in Suweida."
Specs
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Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE WARRIORS RESULTS
Featherweight
Azouz Anwar (EGY) beat Marcelo Pontes (BRA)
TKO round 2
Catchweight 90kg
Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) beat Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)
Split points decision
Welterweight
Gimbat Ismailov (RUS) beat Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR)
TKO round 1
Flyweight (women)
Lucie Bertaud (FRA) beat Kelig Pinson (BEL)
Unanimous points decision
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROU) beat Regelo Enumerables Jr (PHI)
TKO round 1
Catchweight 100kg
Marc Vleiger (NED) beat Mohamed Ali (EGY)
Rear neck choke round 1
Featherweight
James Bishop (NZ) beat Mark Valerio (PHI)
TKO round 2
Welterweight
Abdelghani Saber (EGY) beat Gerson Carvalho (BRA)
TKO round 1
Middleweight
Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) beat Igor Litoshik (BLR)
Unanimous points decision
Bantamweight
Fabio Mello (BRA) beat Mark Alcoba (PHI)
Unanimous points decision
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magomedsultanov (RUS)
TKO round 1
Bantamweight
Trent Girdham (AUS) beat Jayson Margallo (PHI)
TKO round 3
Lightweight
Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) beat Roman Golovinov (UKR)
TKO round 1
Middleweight
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Steve Kennedy (AUS)
Submission round 2
Lightweight
Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)
TKO round 2
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
SCHEDULE
Thursday, December 6
08.00-15.00 Technical scrutineering
15.00-17.00 Extra free practice
Friday, December 7
09.10-09.30 F4 free practice
09.40-10.00 F4 time trials
10.15-11.15 F1 free practice
14.00 F4 race 1
15.30 BRM F1 qualifying
Saturday, December 8
09.10-09.30 F4 free practice
09.40-10.00 F4 time trials
10.15-11.15 F1 free practice
14.00 F4 race 2
15.30 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi
match info
Union Berlin 0
Bayern Munich 1 (Lewandowski 40' pen, Pavard 80')
Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich)
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
