Syria’s new transitional prime minister said on Tuesday it was time for “stability and calm” in the country, two days after longtime president Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels in a lightning offensive.
The rebels appointed Mohammed al-Bashir as head of a transitional government to run the country until March 1, a statement said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all countries to support an “inclusive” political process in Syria and said the United States would eventually recognize a government that meets such standards.
“It’s time for the people to enjoy stability and calm,” Bashir said in his first interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV channel since his appointment.
Assad is in Moscow after fleeing Syria, a senior official told NBC News as an Islamist-led rebel coalition swept into Damascus on Sunday, ending the Assad family’s brutal five-decade rule.
Islamist leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, who is leading the rebel offensive, announced talks on a transfer of power and vowed to hold to account former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.
His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is rooted in Syria’s al-Qaeda branch and is listed as a terrorist organization by many Western governments, although it has been trying to moderate its image.
– ‘Unity and tolerance’ –
Blinken said Syria’s future government should be “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian.”
Outlining U.S. priorities, Blinken said the new administration must “uphold a clear commitment to fully respect minority rights” and allow humanitarian aid to flow.
He added that the United States wants the next administration to “prevent Syria from being used as a terrorist base.”
Although the Islamic State group’s jihadists no longer hold any territory in Syria, they remain active.
The war monitor of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 54 government soldiers were captured and killed by Islamic State militants while fleeing across a large desert in Syria.
The U.N. special envoy for Syria says the group that forced Assad to flee must turn its “good information” into action on the ground.
“They’ve been sending a message of unity, of inclusion,” Gayle Pederson said.
He added: “What we don’t need to see… is that this is not implemented in practice over the coming days and weeks.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Callas warned of the risk of a resurgence of sectarian violence and extremism. “We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.”
Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war has killed 500,000 people, forced half the country’s population to flee their homes, and forced millions to seek asylum abroad.
Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed Shala, vowed: “We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and military officers involved in torturing the Syrian people.”
– Thousands missing –
Assad’s fall has triggered frantic searches by family members of the tens of thousands of people held in his security service prisons and detention centers.
As rebels advance toward Damascus, they free thousands of detainees, but many more remain missing.
Syrian White Helmets aid workers called on Russia on Tuesday to pressure Assad for secret prison maps and detainee lists as they race against time to free prisoners.
A large crowd gathered outside Saidnaya prison on Monday in search of relatives, many of whom have been imprisoned for years, AFP reporters reported.
Umm Walid, 52, said: “I am looking for my brother, who has been missing since 2013. We are looking for him everywhere and we think he is here, in Saidnaya. “
Crowds of freed prisoners, many maimed by torture, weakened by disease and emaciated by hunger, roamed the streets of Damascus.
The United Nations says Assad and his deputies must be held accountable no matter who ends up taking power in Syria.
UN investigators, who have been gathering evidence of horrific crimes for years, called Assad’s ouster a “game changer” because they will now have access to “crime scenes”.
As Syrians celebrate the overthrow of Assad, the country now faces huge uncertainty over whether the democratic dream for which so many died has been realized.
– strike –
The Israeli military said it had carried out hundreds of attacks on Syria in the past two days, complicating the outlook.
Petersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, called on Israel to stop this behavior.
“We continue to see Israeli actions and bombings of Syrian territory. This needs to stop,” he said.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syria’s new rulers that he would act “strongly” if they allowed “Iran to reestablish its power in Syria or allow the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah” “Response.
The UK-based Observatory said the Israeli attack “destroyed Syria’s most important military installation”.
The inspectorate said the attacks targeted weapons depots, naval vessels and a research center that Western governments suspect of links to chemical weapons production.
Israel, which borders Syria, has also sent troops into a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
Israel’s backer, the United States, said the invasion must be “temporary” after the United Nations said Israel was violating the 1974 armistice.
The Israeli Defense Minister stated that the military was ordered to “establish a sterile defense zone in southern Syria, free of weapons and terrorist threats, and Israel cannot be permanently stationed.”
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