Little-known leader takes charge as Syria’s interim prime minister, with support from rebels

Little-known leader takes charge as Syria’s interim prime minister, with support from rebels

Syria’s new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.

In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a small pocket of the northwest controlled by rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1.

“Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime,” he said.

“The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and institutions to caretake the government.”

Behind him were two flags: the green, black and white flag flown by opponents of Assad throughout the civil war, and a white flag with the Islamic oath of faith in black writing, typically flown in Syria by Sunni Islamist fighters.

In the Syrian capital, banks reopened for the first time since Assad’s overthrow. Shops were also reopening, traffic returned to the roads, construction workers were back fixing a roundabout in the Damascus city centre and street cleaners were at work.

There was a notable decrease in the number of armed men on the streets. Two sources close to the rebels said their command had ordered fighters to withdraw from cities and for police and internal security forces affiliated with the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), to deploy.

Israel intensifies raids

The steps toward normalization came despite intense airstrikes from Israel targeting bases of the Syrian army, whose forces had melted away in the face of the lightning rebel advance that ousted Assad.

Israel, which has sent forces across the border into a demilitarized zone inside Syria, said its airstrikes were aimed at keeping weapons from falling into hostile hands. It denied reports that its forces had advanced beyond the buffer zone into the countryside southwest of Damascus.

Syrian security sources said the Israeli incursion reached about 25 kilometres southwest of Damascus.

A Syrian security source said Israeli troops reached Qatana, which is 10 kilometres into Syrian territory east of a demilitarized zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria.

Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said troops remained in the buffer zone and “a few additional points” in the vicinity but he denied there had been any significant push into Syria beyond the separation area.

“IDF forces are not advancing towards Damascus. This is not something we are doing or pursuing in any way,” he told a briefing with reporters.

Israeli naval missile ships also destroyed the Syrian military fleet in a Monday night operation as part of a broad campaign to eliminate strategic threats to Israel, Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday during a visit to a naval base in Haifa.

In a statement, he said Israeli forces were establishing themselves in the buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and said he had ordered a “sterile defensive zone” to be created in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence, to prevent any terrorist threat to Israel.

In a sign foreigners are ready to work with HTS, the UN envoy to Syria played down its designation as a terrorist organization. The former al-Qaeda affiliate that led the anti-Assad revolt has lately emphasized its break with its jihadist roots.

“The reality is so far that HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people … of unity, of inclusiveness,” Geir Pedersen told a briefing in Geneva.

Airstrikes wipe out Syrian army assets, sources say

Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have condemned the incursion. Saudi Arabia said the move would “ruin Syria’s chances of restoring security.”

Regional security sources and officers within the now-fallen Syrian army said heavy Israeli airstrikes continued against military installations and airbases across Syria overnight, destroying dozens of helicopters and jets, as well as Republican Guard assets in and around Damascus.

The rough tally of 200 raids had left nothing of the Syrian army’s assets, they said.

Israel said its airstrikes would carry on for days but told the UN Security Council that it was not intervening in Syria’s conflict. It said it had taken “limited and temporary measures” solely to protect its security.

The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors late on Monday, and diplomats said they were still in shock at how quickly Assad’s overthrow unfolded, after a 13-year civil war that was locked in stalemate for years.

“Everyone was taken by surprise, everyone, including the members of the council. So we have to wait and see and watch … and evaluate how the situation will develop,” Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after the meeting.

Mood in Damascus still celebratory

Russia played a major role in supporting Assad’s government and helping it fight the rebels. The Syrian leader fled Damascus for Moscow on Sunday, ending more than 50 years of brutal rule by his family.

With the mood in Damascus still celebratory, Assad’s prime minister, Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali, on Monday agreed to hand power to the rebel-led Salvation Government, an administration based in rebel-held territory in northwest Syria.

The main rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, met with Jalali and Vice-President Faisal Mekdad to discuss the transitional government, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters. Jalali said the handover could take days to carry out.

Al Jazeera television reported the transitional authority would be headed by Mohamed al-Bashir, who has headed the Salvation Government.

The steamroller advance of the militia alliance headed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, was a generational turning point for the Middle East.

The civil war that began in 2011 killed hundreds of thousands, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble, the countryside depopulated and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.

But the rebel alliance has not communicated plans for Syria’s future, and there is no template for such a transition in the fractious region.

Published at Sat, 07 Dec 2024 15:44:10 +0000

Who are all the key players in Syria’s civil war and rebel uprising?

Syria’s long civil war has reclaimed global attention after insurgents took control of Damascus over the weekend and toppled the 50-year Assad regime.

On Tuesday, Syria’s new interim leader announced he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.

In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a small pocket of the northwest controlled by rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1.

The stunning advance by rebel forces over the last two weeks came as several key players in the conflict have been distracted or weakened, triggering the heaviest clashes since a 2020 ceasefire brought relative calm to the country’s north.

Here’s a look at the key players.

5 foreign powers in Syria

Syria’s civil war started in 2011 after an uprising against Assad’s rule. Five foreign powers have a military presence in the country: the United States, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Israel. Forces opposed to Assad, along with U.S.-backed fighters, had controlled more than a third of the country.

Turkey has deployed troops across northwestern Syria — territory held by Syrian rebel groups that rose up against Assad in 2011. Turkey, which firmly supported the 2011 uprising, backs some of these rebel groups.

Iran deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria as early as 2012 to help Assad. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, played a big part. For Iran, Assad is a crucial ally, part of its “Axis of Resistance” to Israel and U.S. influence in the Middle East.

The U.S. military intervention in Syria began in 2014 with airstrikes against the Islamic State jihadist group that had declared its rule over a third of Syria and Iraq. U.S. forces remain in Syria and continue to support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Russia intervened militarily on Assad’s side in 2015, in its biggest foray in the Middle East since the Soviet Union’s collapse. Operating from an airbase in Latakia province, Russian air power decisively tilted the conflict Assad’s way.

Israel holds the Golan Heights, which it seized in its 1967 war with its Arab neighbours. On Monday, Israeli forces seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria. Israel has denied reports that its forces had advanced beyond the buffer zone into the countryside southwest of Damascus.

The presence of Iranian and Iran-backed forces in Syria has been a big point of concern for Israel, prompting it to carry out frequent airstrikes in Syria.

Syrian pro-government forces. Backed by Russia, Iran

Syrian government troops have long controlled a large part of the country, thanks to allied forces dispatched by Russia and Iran.

Until this weekend, Assad’s forces controlled most of the major population centres, including the capital Damascus and cities in Syria’s centre, south and east. The Syrian government’s capture of Aleppo in late 2016 was a turning point in the conflict — and their loss of the city in recent days is a major setback.

Iran’s military advisers and proxy fighters have played a critical role in shoring up Assad’s forces throughout the war. But Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, which is backed by Iran, has been weakened in its recent war with Israel and Iran has been distracted by the conflict. Last week, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias deployed to Syria to back the government’s counteroffensive.

Russia’s military has supported Assad from the Mediterranean coast, where it maintains its only naval base outside the former Soviet Union, and at the Hmeimim airbase in Latakia province, which is home to hundreds of Russian troops. But much of its attention and resources have been focused on its war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia has granted political asylum to Assad.

Insurgent groups. Backed mainly by Turkey

Anti-government forces are led by the insurgent Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which long served as al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria and is considered a terrorist group by the United Nations as well as countries including the U.S. and Canada.

Public Safety Canada noted that Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), which in 2017 merged under HTS, has claimed responsibility for hundreds of attacks, including ambushes, kidnappings, assassinations, suicide bombings and improvised explosive devices.

HTS had controlled much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, its leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaeda, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance.

Other insurgent groups include Noureddine el-Zinki, which was formerly backed by the U.S., before it joined the HTS-led alliance.

A Turkish-backed coalition of groups known as the Syrian National Army has attacked areas including the northern town of Tel Rifaat, controlled by the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Chinese fighters from the Turkistan Islamic Party and Chechen fighters from the former Soviet Union have taken part in the battles in the country’s northwest, according to Syrian opposition activists.

Turkey, which controls parts of northern Syria, will not say how many troops it has in the country.

Syrian Democratic Forces. Backed by the U.S.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-backed coalition of groups, control large parts of eastern Syria.

The SDF has battled the Islamic State group, capturing the last sliver of land held by the extremists in eastern Syria. About 900 American troops are stationed in Syria’s east to guard against a resurgence by the extremist group.

On Sunday, the U.S. launched one of its larger, more expansive assaults against IS camps and operatives in the desert, taking advantage of the Assad government’s downfall. So far, U.S. officials say they do not plan an increase in American forces in Syria but are focused on making sure those already there are safe.

Turkey considers the principal Kurdish faction of the SDF to be linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it and its allies regard as a terrorist group.

Published at Tue, 10 Dec 2024 17:09:10 +0000