The Syrian rebel forces that successfully toppled the regime of former President Bashar Assad have installed a transitional prime minister.
Mohammed al Bashir, the leader of the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham’s political wing, will begin fielding a Cabinet to head the incoming government.
Bashir has served as the head of the oppositional Syrian Salvation Government in northern Syria since January, and his appointment indicates HTS is attempting to scale up its established, regional political bureau instead of building a new regime from scratch.
The Salvation Government was formed in 2017 by HTS as a nonmilitarized political administration to govern territory under its control while Assad was in office. The unofficial state was mostly centered in the Idlib Governate.
The Syrian Salvation Government has, for years, attempted to posture itself as a centrist regime with accommodations for religious differences and ethnic minorities, though international bodies claim human rights abuses persist throughout Idlib.
The U.S. State Department considers HTS a terrorist organization and the Salvation Government as an affiliate engaged in antihumanitarian exploitation.
“Humanitarian actors reported HTS and the HTS-affiliated Syrian Salvation Government attempted to regulate, benefit from, or interfere with the delivery of aid and services in areas of the northwest,” the department said in its 2023 report on human rights in Syria.
It continued: “This included attempts to impose ‘taxes’ and fees on humanitarian organizations, impose licensing and registration protocols, and interfere with beneficiary selection and aid distribution.”
While influential security and religious affairs offices within the Salvation Government are occupied by HTS personnel, some parts of the administration have sought to delineate themselves firmly from the terrorist organization in order to secure humanitarian aid from organizations such as the United Nations.
HTS itself has also attempted to portray itself as more centrist and open-minded since taking control of the country — a bid to calm panic about the rise to power of a former al Qaeda branch.
Rebel leaders issued a directive on Monday banning attacks on former personnel of Assad’s Syrian Arab Army and granting amnesty to the collapsed regime’s soldiers, according to state-affiliated newspaper al Watan on social media. Similar directives have reportedly been published ordering rebel personnel not to punish women regarding their style of dress.
Former Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed al Jalali, who served under Assad, indicated Sunday during a video address that he is prepared to participate in “handover procedures” with the incoming government.
“This country can be a normal country that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world,” Jalali said in the message. “But this issue is up to any leadership chosen by the Syrian people. We are ready to cooperate with it and offer all possible facilities.”
The United States government has launched a series of air strikes against Islamic State militia in the wake of the HTS takeover.
President Joe Biden said during a Sunday press conference that those attacks were part of a larger campaign to help stabilize the country and ensure the new regime is not immediately usurped by rival Islamic terrorist groups.
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“We’re clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try and take advantage of any vacuum to reestablish its credibility and create a safe haven,” the president said. “We will not let that happen.”
Biden also warned about the new regime’s “grim record of terrorism,” warning that the centrist characteristics displayed by HTS could shift as its power becomes established.
“They’re saying the right things now,” Biden said. “But as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words but their actions.”
