The head of the Islamist-dominated coalition that took power in Syria He promised to dissolve the various forces in the army. rebel groups that contributed to bringing down Bashar Al Assad and claimed the lifting of international sanctions against the country.
After almost 50 years of rule by the Al Assad clan, the new authorities face the challenge of unifying a country torn apart by 13 years of war and to reassure the international community, which is beginning to establish contact with its leaders.
The leader of the radical Sunni group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the rebel offensive, met with British representatives on Monday and will do so this Tuesday with the first french diplomatic mission sent to Damascus in 12 years.
In statements broadcast on the Telegram channel by HTS, Jolani, who now calls himself by his real name Ahmad al Sharehassured that the groups in combat in Syria “will be dissolved and the combatants prepared to join the ranks of the Ministry of Defense, and everyone will be under the law.”
With its allies Russia and Iran immersed in other conflicts, Bashar Al Assad fled to Moscow when the rebel coalition took over Damascus on December 8 after a rebel offensive launched from northern Syria.
The former president broke his silence on Monday to ensure that his escape from Damascus was not planned and to describe the country’s new leaders as “terrorists”.
His fall triggered scenes of joy and relief after almost 14 years of civil war that broke out in 2011 with the repression of demonstrations pro-democratic and has left half a million dead and six million exiled.
But unifying this country with numerous factions with divergent international alliances and multiple religious minorities is a challenge for the HTS. Previously affiliated with Al Qaedathe group claims to have broken with jihadism, but many Western countries still classify it as a “terrorist” organization.
In a military complex near Damascus, local residents set fire to the homes of former government officials, according to journalists from the AFP.
In LatakiaSyria’s second most important port on the Mediterranean, hundreds of men and some women members of the former government forces lined up Monday in front of the offices where the new authorities asked them to hand over their weapons.
“Syria must remain united and there needs to be a social contract between the State and all confessions to guarantee social justice”Jolani said during a meeting with representatives of the Druze community, a branch of Shiite Islam that represented 3% of the Syrian population before the war.
Jolani also received a delegation from british diplomatsbefore whom he defended “the need to lift all sanctions imposed on Syria to allow the return of Syrian refugees.”
Many countries and international organizations have celebrated the fall of Al Assad, but are waiting to see how the new authorities treat the country’s minorities of whom the former president claimed to be protector.
However, in a delicate regional situation, the western countries They do not want to miss the opportunity to reestablish ties with Damascus given the risk of fragmentation and resurgence of the jihadist group Islamic Statewhich has never been totally eradicated from Syria.
In this sense, the us army announced on Monday that it had killed 12 IS members in airstrikes over Syria.
The North American country also established contacts with the HTS and the European Union announced on Monday the sending of a high representative to Damascus.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kalla, He assured that Russia and Iran “must have no place” in the new Syria and explained that the EU will address the issue of the future of Russian military bases in that country with the new authorities.
In an interview with AFP, Riad Assaad, one of the rebel leaders, urged Moscow to “revise its calculations” and “abandon hostility” and defended the idea of a Syria that maintains “good relations with all countries in the world.” .
(AFP)
