Newly named Syria PM calls for ‘stability and calm’

DAMASCUS - Syria’s new transitional prime minister on Dec 10 said it was time for “stability and calm” in the country, two days after long-time president Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebels in a lightning offensive.

The rebels appointed Mr Mohammad al-Bashir as

the transitional head of government

to run the country until March 1, a statement said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

urged all nations

to support an “inclusive” political process in Syria, saying the US would eventually recognise a government if it meets such standards.

“Now it is time for the people to enjoy stability and calm,” Mr Bashir told Qatar’s Al Jazeera television, in his first interview since being appointed.

He also told Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily that one of his first goals was to “bring back the millions of Syrian refugees who are abroad”.

“Their human capital, their experience will allow the country to flourish,” he said in an interview published on Dec 11.

“Mine is an appeal to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has earned its pride and dignity. Come back. We must rebuild, be reborn, and we need everyone’s help.”

A senior official told US broadcaster NBC that Mr Assad was in Moscow after he fled Syria as an Islamist-led rebel alliance swept into Damascus on Dec 8, ending five decades of brutal rule by his clan.

Mr Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who headed the rebel offensive, had announced talks on a transfer of power and vowed to pursue former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.

His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is rooted in Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch and is proscribed by many Western governments as a terrorist organisation, though it has sought to moderate its image.

‘Unity, inclusiveness’

Mr Blinken said the future government of Syria should be “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian”.

Laying out US priorities, he said the new government must “uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities” and allow the flow of humanitarian assistance.

The US wanted the next government to “prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism”, he added.

Although they no longer hold any territory in Syria, the militants of the Islamic State (IS) group remain active.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said

IS fighters killed 54 government troops

after capturing them as they fled across the vast Syrian desert.

The UN special envoy for Syria said the groups that forced Mr Assad to flee must transform their “good messages” into actions on the ground. “They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness,” Mr Geir Pedersen said.

“What we need not to see is... that this is not followed up in practice in the days and the weeks ahead of us,” he added.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned of the risks of sectarian violence and a resurgence of extremism. “We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.”

Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war killed 500,000 people and forced half the country to flee their homes, millions of them finding refuge abroad.

Mr Bashir told the Corriere that the “wrong behaviour of some Islamist groups has led many people, especially in the West, to associate Muslims with terrorism and Islam with extremism”.

“The meaning of Islam, which is ‘religion of justice’, was distorted. Precisely because we are Islamic, we will guarantee the rights of all people and all sects in Syria,” he said in the interview, published in Italian.

He also said “we have no problem with anyone, state, party or sect, who kept their distance from the bloodthirsty Assad regime”.

Mr al-Jolani, who now uses his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, vowed: “We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people.”

Thousands missing

The fall of Mr Assad has sparked a frantic search by families of the tens of thousands of people held in his security services’ jails and detention centres.

As they advanced towards Damascus, the rebels released thousands of detainees, but many more remain missing.

Syria’s White Helmet rescuers on Dec 10

called on Russia to pressure Mr Assad

into providing maps of secret jails and lists of detainees as they race against time to release prisoners.

A large crowd gathered on Dec 9 outside Saydnaya jail, synonymous with the worst atrocities of Mr Assad’s rule, to search for relatives, many of whom had spent years in captivity, AFP correspondents reported.

“I’m looking for my brother, who has been missing since 2013. We’ve looked everywhere for him, we think he’s here, in Saydnaya,” said 52-year-old Mr Umm Walid.

Crowds of freed prisoners wandered the streets of Damascus, many maimed by torture, weakened by illness and emaciated by hunger.

The UN said whoever ended up in power in Syria must hold Mr Assad and his lieutenants to account.

UN investigators who for years have been gathering evidence of horrific crimes called Mr Assad’s ouster a “game changer” because they will now be able to access “the crime scene”.

While Syrians were celebrating Mr Assad’s ouster, the country now faces enormous uncertainty, and it is unclear whether the dreams of democracy so many sacrificed their lives for will be realised.

Israeli strikes

Further complicating prospects, the Israeli military said it had conducted hundreds of strikes on Syria over the past two days.

Mr Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, called on Israel to stop.

“We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory. This needs to stop,” he said.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syria’s new rulers that he would respond “forcefully” if they allow “Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or permit the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah”.

The Britain-based Observatory said Israeli strikes had “destroyed the most important military sites in Syria”.

The monitor said the strikes targeted weapons depots, naval vessels and a research centre that Western governments suspected of having links to chemical weapons production.

Israel, which borders Syria, also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

The US, Israel’s backer, said the incursion must be “temporary” after the UN said Israel was violating the 1974 armistice.

The Israeli defence minister said the military had orders to “establish a sterile defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence”. AFP