ATTITUDE AND PLANS OF THE DRUZES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R000300560008-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 22, 1998
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: December 29, 1946
• Content Type: IR

Doc t No. 0D
Auth: DDA REG. 77!1763
DDA M,~;;ZU , 3 Ap 7
Class. CHA: 9 _: ?:7 TS
ED DECLASS
NO CHA d For a ease 19 -RDP82-004578000300560008-3
%1t 459,09,03 .-CIA
Date :fl tjq(ctk 19 1 b
KIWI . ,l E GROUP F% a
TELLIGENCE REPORT
;I IN`" Rai`
,t : d' Attitude ,wop Plan, of the Dri'-zes
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DATE. 25X1X6
INFO.
Dt e 17 ' x ar7 1947
PAGES Vz, 25X1A2g
SUPPLEMENT
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Causes of Druze Discontent
L. Fast anti present Syrian go wt rsarc4ents under President Qu tl.i have f
to meat -*ize demands for large appropriations for roadsy sc'ools.9 va&Ued
tera,
iecit .4 pc wr,, and for at least one cabinet poste Asir ;Ad3l Arslan,
the prey ens, I-nister of ',duration, is Lebansse, a Druze only in name,
hothg off'icia1ly a Sunni os1o, and he in no sense represents the
interests w'k' the Jebel,,
buJ.tau Pasha has declared to the Majlis of the Atrash family that., should
r We th sands not be t.ffoctlvely met by the new govern st within the
n t f07 weeks he wa i 1. order all Drones to withdraw from the ser v ics of the
6yrien Coverna t,0 civil service, a ni,r or, serenity forces, 7hose stationed
outside the Jebel will be ordered to return there. The Druzes, thus
.ut off from S jria, would xvIe th el s and place their allegiance
here they aaw fit. In source e s opinion, Sultan Pasha's orders could be
obe a,d,r A ties De:a ze are known to he cw ol a r ,
#_ASSIF ICAT ICH
In the eabizht t crisis which vesu1t&. in the fox atlon of the present
vvr r'nt under Ja .1 Mardaan:a Bo r_q A reldent Qu , .i and his advisi-ws
once mo:e?n, Druyw d uands$ and t'ai.ed to me -, violent rue objection.,
to the l., ; iv lativv decree a which brought about the fall of the saari
s ~t a h?e }e objections were foiwa].at . by, &ilt i Paster . Atr ht
aai.{ e lead ear of the Syrian revolt of 1925-1 i and deadly pea o al em
en, y
All the D razes are united behind Sultan Pasha, rage less of British and
Tr ,)b ~.j,w subsidies, or those of the Syr nj government.
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 Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R000300560008-3
C . NTR AL INTELLIGENCE GRC: P
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The Syr-tan Cendariierie has at .present, 5 officers rid. 230 it n
in the Jebel Druze, of whom 150 are mounted ft They have no
motorized equipment and are armed with British rifles and
sub-machine tuns, on the average of one automatic weapon
to each 20 men., All but a few of the gendarmerie earn, Or uzev.
They are commas e3d by the Vin? z Zayd rash, bra ;her r,-' emu'! t
Pasha Atrash. and brother-in-law of Ax it Haswi Ai ra3h R Governor
(Muhaf-+ z) of the Jabal. Non-Drum t enadamer?ie officer 3 from
o? her parts of Syria rc't:ue e to serve In the Jebel. Du ^: ng
the past sunirner, gendorne ie headouart,ers for the time
ir: troduced six or seven non-Druze x.C.0 s: they aria
isolated and ixieffecti o.
The Syrian Army has between 200 and 300 cavalry in the ~ e el ~
A-11 an. Druzes, the remr snb of the forimer Frens;kk-o:;;amaze 1
Druze Legion.
7. The Dr uzes keel) hidden all the stores of arms ard 'nuurnuai,.tion
25X1 X6 seized by them from the French in May 1945, Those consist of
rifles, revolvers, sub-machine guns, machine guns, mortars and
~g ?en i des, with ample arnrr, inition for all, and are estimated by
source to provide arms for 3500-1.000 men.
25X1 X6 Comment 4 Syrian Gover orient forces stationed
in the Jebel Drure are totally inadequate, and could
take no effective action in the event of a Druze uprising.
8. It has been reported, as of 19 November 19! 6, that Sultan Pasha,
- A.trash was in touch with Druze leaders in Lebanon, in order
to find out if the Lebanese acuzes wov d support him in case of
a showdown with the Syrian Goverment. He is said to have
received a favorable reply, and it is unders =d that 200
Dry ze young men will go to Jebel Druze to be ready to attack
Da sans if the signal Is given.
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Ifioa.1v ago a"
Approved For Release 1999/09/08 : CIA-RDP82-00457R000300560008-3