TELL ALO/MANBIJ, Syria — On a recent morning Sheikh Humaydi Daham al-Hadi reclined on a velvet floor sofa, puffing on a cigarette with a roguish glint in his eye as he held court in his outdoor diwan, or reception chamber, in the town of Tell Alo in northern Syria.
The veteran leader of the nomadic Arab Shammar tribe, which spans several countries, is among the most vocal advocates of Syria’s long-repressed Kurdish minority. His Forces of the Brave or al-Sanadid forces have, like thousands of fellow Arab tribals, been fighting alongside the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS).
On March 23, the YPG-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared victory after the fall of the jihadis’ last sliver of territory in Baghouz. But even before IS was vanquished in battle, Hadi had embarked on another mission — to probe the contours of a possible settlement between the SDF, its allies and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “Yes, I am ready to shake Assad’s hand,” Hadi told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview at his marble palace, where he breeds his prized horses and camels. The sheikh had recently returned from a diplomatic tour that took him to Baghdad, Damascus and an overnight encounter with Russian officials at the Khmeimim air base in western Syria. “The aim is to stop the war and sit around the table,” Hadi said.
The Shammar leader is not the only one mulling such an agreement. Over the past several months, a growing number of Arab tribal leaders residing in SDF-controlled areas have been reaching out to the Assad regime and cutting individual deals, according to Syrian Kurdish officials and Arab notables interviewed by Al-Monitor. In the mainly Arab town of Manbij, which is run by local allies of the US-backed SDF, the shift among the sheikhs is palpable. Requests to meet with Mohamed Khaeir al-Mashi of the Bou Bana tribe, Ismail Rabia of the Hanada tribe and Abdallah al-Bakouri of the Bou Sultan tribe revealed that all had migrated to regime-held territory when Russia and the Syrian Arab Army moved within close proximity of the town in November to forestall a possible Turkish incursion targeting the YPG. And it's not just the Arabs: The Kurds have been sending out feelers to Damascus as well.
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