Syrians gathered in Damascus’s al-Marjeh square on Sunday to demonstrate against the unrest that has rocked the country’s western coastal regions, calling for holding perpetrators of civilian killings accountable and urging “inclusion and freedom for all” in the transitional phase of governance.

An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1,000 people over four days.

Syria’s top diplomat and his counterparts from neighboring countries have called for the lifting of Western-led sanctions and post-war reconciliation.

American Jews who fled their Syrian homeland decades ago went to the White House this week to appeal to the Trump administration to lift sanctions on the country.

The resumption of hostilities in Syria could change everything, and the Russian military could suddenly find itself in a precarious and vulnerable position.

Syria's leader on Sunday vowed accountability and an investigation after the killing of Alawite civilians triggered an international backlash against the worst violence since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow.

Amid efforts by the U.N and Europe to woo former terror chief Ahmed al-Sharaa with sanctions relief, his regime is accused of killing hundreds of civilians from the minority Alawite community.

CAIRO/AMMAN (Reuters) -Syrian leader Ahmed Sharaa called for peace on Sunday after hundreds were killed in coastal areas in the worst communal violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.