Syria leader issues plea for national unity, peace

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa called on Sunday for peace and national unity after days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of the former government that have killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Alawite civilians, reports AFP.

"We must preserve national unity (and) civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country," Sharaa said in a speech delivered from a mosque in Damascus.

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