Foreign countries intensify contact efforts with new Syria rulers
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UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen (left) meeting with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani in Damascus on Dec 15.
PHOTO: AFP
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DAMASCUS – Foreign countries stepped up efforts on Dec 15 to establish contact with Syria’s interim rulers, a week after Islamist-led rebels sent President Bashar al-Assad fleeing to Moscow
The United Nations special envoy for Syria was among those who arrived in the Syrian capital.
“We need to see, of course, justice and accountability for crimes,” Mr Geir Pedersen said in Damascus. “And we need to make sure that that goes through a credible justice system, and that we don’t see any revenge.”
Mr Pedersen called for “increased, immediate” aid to war-ravaged Syria, saying it had been through “an enormous... humanitarian crisis”.
He later met rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, according to the rebels’ Telegram channel.
A Qatari delegation also landed in Syria to meet transitional government officials.
They reaffirmed the Gulf emirate’s “full commitment to supporting the Syrian people... following the success of their revolution”, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman told the emirate’s official news agency.
The ministry later announced that Qatar’s embassy would resume operations on Dec 17, 13 years after it closed in the early stages of the anti-government uprising that turned into years of civil war.
Unlike other Arab countries, Qatar never restored ties with Mr Assad’s Syria.
On Dec 14, Turkey, a major player in Syria’s conflict, holding considerable sway in the north-west, reopened its Damascus embassy after 12 years.
And Britain’s foreign minister said London had established diplomatic contact with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that led the offensive that ousted Mr Assad.
It remains “a proscribed terrorist organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact”, said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
London also announced it would release £50 million (S$85.3 million) of humanitarian aid for “the most vulnerable” Syrians in Syria and in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan.
“We’re committed to supporting the Syrian people as they chart a new course,” said Mr Lammy.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc’s envoy to Syria was leaving for Damascus on Dec 16 to talk to the new Islamist-led rulers.
On Dec 14, Washington’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said his country has made “direct contact” with HTS
France said a four-strong diplomatic team would arrive in Damascus on Dec 17 to “retake possession of our real estate” as well as “establish initial contact” with the new authorities, said acting Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
They would also be “evaluating the urgent needs of the population”, he added.
Torture, death threats
Mr Assad fled Syria on Dec 8 following an 11-day rebel offensive led by HTS, after years of civil war sparked by his violent crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.
The war has killed upwards of 500,000 people and displaced over half the country’s population.
Since the rebels took Damascus, former prisoners such as Mr Ghazi Mohammed al-Mohammed have shed light on the abuse he and others like him suffered.
“Towards the end I just wanted to die, waiting for when they would execute us,” said Mr Mohammed, who was among those freed by the rebels from the prison system Mr Assad used to quash any hint of dissent.
Mr Mohammed said he does not know why he was arrested. He spent more than five months in prison where he was tortured and threatened with death, he said.
Calm is slowly returning to the streets of Damascus, with dozens of children streaming back to school
An official at one school said “no more than 30 per cent” had returned on Dec 15, but that the numbers would “rise gradually”.
Damascus’ interim governor said major challenges lay ahead.
“The challenges we are facing right now are the massive destruction of the institutional structure in terms of human resources, local economy, and the social structure,” said Mr Maher Marwan.
“This is a reality that requires great effort and awareness, in addition to solidarity by everyone at this phase.”
Turkey was ready to provide military support to the new Islamist-led government set up by the rebels, if requested, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said on Dec 15, according to the Turkish media.
The new leadership should be given “a chance”, he added. Ankara was “ready to provide the necessary support” if needed.
Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and has sought to moderate its rhetoric in recent years. But its seizure of power has sparked widespread concern over the protection of religious and ethnic minorities.
On Dec 15, Syrian Christians attended their first church service since Mr Assad’s fall.
The interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected, as will the rule of law.
Russian evacuation
Mr Assad was propped up by Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it had evacuated some of its diplomatic staff from Syria on Dec 15, “by a special flight of the Russian Air Force from the Hmeimim airbase” in Syria.
The rebel advance began on Nov 27, the day a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon
Both Israel and Turkey have carried out military strikes inside Syria since Mr Assad’s fall.
Despite his country carrying out hundreds of strikes over the past week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “we have no interest in confronting Syria”.
“Israel’s policy towards Syria will be determined by the evolving reality on the ground,” he said in a video statement.
Early on Dec 16, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli strikes had targeted military sites in the country’s coastal Tartus region.
The bombardment is “the heaviest strikes” in the area in more than a decade, said the UK-based observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.
Israel has also ordered troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, a move denounced by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and which the UN said violated a 1974 armistice. AFP
