DAMASCUS. The rebels who ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday appointed a head of a transitional government to run the country until March 1.
“The general command has given us the task of running a transitional government until March 1,” said a statement on state television’s Telegram account under the name of Mohammed al-Bashir. He is being referred to as the “new Syrian prime minister.”
Assad fled Syria after an Islamist-led rebel coalition entered the capital Damascus on Sunday, ending his dynasty’s brutal five-decade rule.
The Islamist leader who led the offensive to oust Assad, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has begun talks on a power transfer and has pledged to prosecute former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.
His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is a branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, and has been banned as a terrorist organization by many Western governments. However, it is trying to moderate its rhetoric.
The UN envoy for Syria has said that the groups trying to force Assad to flee must translate their “good message” into practical action.
‘They have been sending a message of unity, of inclusion, we have seen reassuring things in Aleppo and Hama too’, Jir Pedersen said, ‘but what we don’t want to see is obviously nice statements and what we are seeing in reality at the beginning is the days before us and It has not been implemented in practice in weeks.
The fall of Assad, who maintained an intricate web of prisons and detention centers to prevent Syrians from deviating from the Baath Party line, has brought a wave of celebration and jubilation across the country and in the diaspora around the world.
The civil war has killed half a million people and forced half the country’s population to flee their homes. Millions of them have sought refuge abroad.
The country is now facing deep uncertainty after the collapse of the government that ran every aspect of daily life.
Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed al-Sara, vowed, “We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and military officials involved in torturing the Syrian people.”
According to a statement on Telegram, Jolani held talks with outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed al-Jalali on Monday to “coordinate the transfer of power that guarantees the provision of services” to the Syrian people.