SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Syria's new government is looking to the future, announcing the outlines of a new Constitution just three months after the fall of the Assad regime. The new president already faces challenges. NPR's Jane Arraf joins us. Jane, thanks for being with us. And tell us what we're hearing behind you.
JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Yeah, that's actually a commemoration being celebrated or commemorated all across the country today. It marks the anniversary of the start of the uprising in 2011 that led to more than a decade of civil war here.
SIMON: A distressing week. Reports of sectarian violence and even massacres. What can you tell us?
ARRAF: It is extremely disturbing. The numbers aren't able to be independently verified, but there are credible reports, Scott, that about 800 civilians and regime forces and others were killed in coastal areas. A lot of these were members of the Alawite religious minority, and that's significant because that's the sect that deposed President Bashar al-Assad belonged to. So a lot of these were revenge killings. Now, the government says the forces that did the killings weren't under its control, and it's promised to arrest those responsible. But here's the danger - it's that when minorities and others feel threatened, they turn to armed gunmen, to militias to protect them. And that's what we're seeing across the country.
SIMON: What's the new Constitution trying to accomplish?
ARRAF: In many ways, it brings back parts of the old Constitution. The president still has to be Muslim. The main source of law still has to be Islamic law. But the main thing that's receiving quite a lot of criticism is it places an immense amount of power with the presidency. And this is a country with very distinct regions, distinct groups. It's raised worries of even more sectarian violence and worries by these groups that they won't be protected in this new Syria. And, importantly, al-Sharaa, who is - al-Sharaa - President Ahmed al-Sharaa, he was a member of al-Qaida, a Sunni militant Arab. He's now a politician. But the Constitution itself has raised fears that he's not committed to an inclusive Syria, which he denies.
SIMON: And tell us about protests in the Kurdish region. That's after Kurds there agreed to give up control of the area to become part of the new Syria.
ARRAF: Yeah. Yesterday, there were protests held in Qamishli, a city in the Kurdistan region, in Syria and in other places.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
ARRAF: Those people were chanting, down with the president. And they believe that the Constitution doesn't guarantee their rights or their freedoms. The Kurds cut a deal with the Syrian government, announced last week, and they gave up a lot under U.S. pressure and Turkish threats. They agreed to basically join the new Syria, but now they're formally rejecting this Constitution as not giving them enough power.
SIMON: And Israel has escalated airstrikes in Syria. What's behind that?
ARRAF: Well, Israel said it was aiming at the command headquarters of a militant Palestinian group, but we actually went to the site in an upscale neighborhood here. The neighbors said the apartment that had been hit had been vacant for years, and the only casualty, in fact, was a housekeeper in the apartment next door who is seriously wounded. Now, this is a big deal because the Syrian president has made clear that Israel isn't an enemy, but Israel has made clear it will continue to attack targets in Syria. And that threatens to bring in Turkey, which backs the Syrian government and says it won't stand for Israeli interference. So all in all, Scott, a lot of threats here, internal and external.
SIMON: NPR's Jane Arraf in Damascus. Thanks so much.
ARRAF: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF BIBIO'S "VIOLET (JAPAN BONUS)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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