The Syrian factions that demolished President Bashar Assad last month last month to a former Islamist rebel leader as an interim president of the country on Wednesday in an impulse to project a united front when facing the monumental task of rebuilding Syria after almost 14 years of civil war.
The ancient insurgents also threw the Constitution of Syria, adopted under Assad, saying that a new letter would soon be drafted.
The appointment of Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with Al Qaida, such as the president of Syria “in the transition phase” occurred after a meeting of the old insurgent factions in Damascus, the Syrian capital.
The announcement was made by the spokesman for the new de facto government military sector, Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani, said the state agency healthy. The exact mechanism under which the factions selected Al-Sharra as interim president was not clear.
Previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, Al-Sharaa is the head of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, who led the ray offensive that knocked Assad in early December. The group was once affiliated with Al-Qaida, but since then it has denounced its old ties.
In recent years, Al-Sharaa has tried to present himself as a defender of pluralism and tolerance and promised to protect the rights of women and religious minorities.
The United States had previously placed a reward of US $ 10 million in Al-Sharaa, but canceled it last month after an American delegation visited Damascus and met him. The main American diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, after the meeting, which Al-Sharaa found himself as “pragmatic.”
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Speaking at Wednesday's meeting, Al-Sharaa, who was in military uniform, emphasized the “heavy task and great responsibility” faced by the new rulers of Syria.
“If the winner is arrogant after his victory and forgets Allah's favor on him, he will take him to tyranny,” he said, according to a video released hours later.
Among the priorities for the reconstruction of Syria, he said, they will be “to fill the void legitimately and legally” and “maintain civil peace seeking transition justice and avoiding revenge attacks” following the disastrous reign of Assad.
The Syrians took to the streets of Damascus and elsewhere to celebrate the announcement, touching car horn and, in some cases, shooting in the air. Many expressed their support for Al-Sharaa.
“This person is someone intelligent and has a good understanding and he was the leader of the battle that released Syria,” said Abdallah al-Sweid, who was among those who held in the Umayad square in Damascus. “It's someone who deserves to be president.”
Others, even those who had rejoiced in the expulsion of Assad, seemed criticism in the way in which the appointment and lack of clarity was made in the next steps.
“The problem is not in decisions. The problem is at the time, the previous promises and confusion, ”said Mohammad Salim Alkhatb, an official of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and opposition forces, a group formed by members of the opposition to Assad in exile.
Qatar was the first to react to the appointment of Al-Sharaa, which was expected, saying that decisions destined to “improve consensus and unity between all Syrian parts.” The statement added that this should help pave the way for a “peaceful transfer of power through an integral political process.”
The western nations, although they have moved to restore ties with Damascus after Assad was overthrown, they are still somewhat circums -aspects about the new Islamist rulers of Syria.
Abdul Ghani, the spokesman, also announced on Wednesday that the Constitution of Syria, adopted in 2012, under the Assad rule, was annulled. He said that Al-Sharaa would be authorized to form a temporary legislative council until a new Constitution is written.
All the country's armed factions would dissolve, said Abdul Ghani, and would be absorbed by state institutions.
Since the fall of Assad, HTS has become the de facto ruling party and has established an interim government largely composed of local government officials who previously led in the province of Idlib, controlled by the rebels.
The interim authorities have promised that they would launch an inclusive process to establish a new government and constitution, including the call of a national dialogue conference and will invite the different communities of Syria, although a date has not been established.
As the former Syrian army collapsed with the fall of Assad, Al-Sharaa has asked for the creation of a new unified national army and security forces, but the questions have approached how the interim administration can gather an old mosaic Rebel groups, each with their own with their own leaders and ideology.
Even Knottier is the question of the Kurdish groups supported by the United States that have forged an early autonomous enclave in the Civil War of Syria, without relieving the Assad government or the rebels seeking to tear it down. Since the fall of Assad, there has been an escalation in the clashes between the Kurdish forces and the armed groups backed by Turkish allies with HTS in northern Syria.
The Syrian democratic forces led by Kurdo were not present at the Wednesday meeting of the country's armed factions on Wednesday and there were no immediate comments of the group.
At the Annual World Economic Forum in Davos this month, Asaad al-Sibani, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Syria and HTS official, said that the country needs the help of the international community by beginning to rebuild after the Brutal civil war.
–Sewell reported from Beirut.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press