They have seen their people slaughtered, their communities terrorised and dispossessed and their ancestral lands laid to waste. Now, some of the most influential tribal leaders in Syria have come together to try to end the savage civil war that has afflicted their country.
They have formed a new tribal coalition and, The Independentcan reveal, held secret talks with the UN’s special envoy for Syria and the US General who is Barack Obama’s representative to the rebels fighting against the Assad regime.
The tribal chiefs have also met ministers from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, key financial and military backers of the opposition, and are soon to meet King Abdullah of Jordan.
These leaders wield enormous influence and command the fealty of hundreds of thousands of Syrians through the extended clan system. At confidential talks to which they were invited with the UN envoy, Staffan de Mistura, two weeks ago in Geneva, 11 of their leaders were asked to help reach a peace deal with the Syrian government.