Unlock Editorial Digest for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf chooses her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The rebels who overthrew Bashar al-Assad sought to consolidate control of Syria on Monday amid concerns that a regime change in Damascus could exacerbate regional instability.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda operative, granted an amnesty to conscripted members of Assad’s army and state agencies ordered the restoration of public access to the economically vital oil sector. Services and events.
“Let us build a new Syria together,” the Ministry of Public Works said.
Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali, who served under Assad, said his government team was seeking a smooth and short transition of power, adding that most of his ministers were in office.
HTS released a video on Monday showing Jalali meeting with his leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. They were accompanied by Mohamed al-Bashir, the de facto head of HTS government in Idlib province and a possible candidate for interim prime minister.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources said the HTS military operations arm that led different rebel factions to overthrow the Assad dynasty on Sunday now provides “necessary protection” for workers returning to oil facilities.
But Adam Abdelmoulla, the U.N. coordinator for Syria, also told The Associated Press that the public sector “just came to a complete and abrupt halt.”
The Health Ministry called on private and public sector workers to return to work even during the 4 pm to 5 am curfew in Damascus.
Public transport in the city will resume at 8 am on Tuesday, an official said. But all flights to and from Damascus and Aleppo airports remain suspended, and some border posts are unmanned.
Crowds of people gathered at the notorious Saidnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus on Monday, trying to find long-missing relatives.
Syrians hope for a relatively smooth transition in the strategically important country after more than half a century of Assad family rule and nearly 14 years of civil war.
On Monday, Germany, Britain, Austria and Greece all said they would suspend processing asylum applications from Syrians.
But the region remains plagued by post-regime-change chaos in countries such as Libya and Iraq, where Saddam Hussein’s forces were disbanded.
Many countries – both opponents and supporters of Assad – have expressed concern that the fall of Assad’s regime could lead to further instability in the fractured Arab country and the region. location.
While HTS is listed as a terrorist movement by the US, EU, UK and Turkey, UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Financial Times that international powers seeking a peaceful transition in the country must consider removing it title.
Amid the turmoil, the United States has launched dozens of attacks against Islamic State targets in Syria, while Turkish-backed Syrian militants battle Kurdish forces in the north of the country.
Russia, which has naval and air bases in Syria and has provided asylum to Assad, said it was “making every effort to get in touch with the country’s new rulers” and ensure the security of the bases.
Israel said on Monday it was continuing to seize “high ground” inside Syria, moving tanks and infantry in and out of the previously demilitarized buffer zone.
Egypt condemned the move “in the strongest possible terms”, saying it amounted to an “occupation of Syrian land” and a “serious violation” of the 1974 armistice agreement. “It’s a fait accompli,” Kadar added. . . will lead to further violence and tension in the region”.
Israeli commandos also captured a strategic Syrian military position on the highest point of the Golan Heights, known as Mount Sheikh.
The country has occupied much of the Golan Heights since it seized it from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed it in 1981, although its claims to the land are not internationally recognized.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a border inspection on Sunday that the 1974 agreement had “collapsed” after Syrian forces abandoned positions and Israeli forces took over them “to ensure that no hostile forces take root on Israel’s borders.”
