The post-Assad era

Syria, Khamenei: US and Israeli plan. Moscow: Assad is safe

The explosions in Damascus were heard in the night after the NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported about 250 Israeli raids in Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. According to the NGO, Israel has been targeting major Syrian military installations throughout the country since Sunday with the aim of destroying them.

10 December 2024

Aggiungi Il Sole 24 Ore
ai preferiti su Google

Mohamed Bashir, premier del governo siriano di transizione

5' min read

The international community 'no longer has anything to fear from Syria after the overthrow of Bashar al Assad's regime'. This was stated to Sky News by the leader of Hayat Tahrir al Sham, Abu Mohammed al Jolani, adding that 'their fears are useless, God willing'. 'The fear stemmed from the presence of the regime. The country is moving towards development and reconstruction. It is moving towards stability. People are exhausted from the war. So the country is not ready for another war and will not enter one."

The United States has not yet had any contact with Syrian Premier-in-Charge Muhammad Bashir, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press briefing. "We have no comment on his nomination," he added.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on the other hand, states that 'What happened in Syria was planned in the command rooms of the United States and Israel'.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serghei Ryabkov told Nbc that former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is in Russia, "he is safe and this shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation," he said. Asked whether Russia will hand Assad over to trial, Ryabkov said: 'Russia is not a party to the convention that established the International Criminal Court.

"We will disband the security services and abolish the anti-terrorism law," said Syrian Prime Minister-in-Charge Muhammad Bashir in reference to the control agencies of the regime embodied for 54 years by the Assad family, who were held responsible for the systematic violation of human rights. The 'anti-terrorism law' had in 2012 replaced the martial laws imposed since the 1960s, and served to justify the existence of special courts for the arrest of opponents and dissidents. It is estimated that since 2012 more than 150,000 people have been imprisoned in Syria for crimes of opinion.

The Appointment of Bashir

Bashir was appointed head of the Syrian transitional government by the commander of the pro-Turkish forces, Ahmad Sharaa (Jolani until 1 March). An initial meeting of the new government was also attended by the outgoing premier, Muhammad Jalali, to instruct Bashir on the procedures to be followed in these delicate moments of transition. The new head of government, former premier of the shadow government of the oppositions in Idlib, in the north-west of the country, is indicated by several observers as a personality lacking the necessary experience to run a national government.

Israeli raids

Loud explosions were heard last night in Damascus. The main suspect is Israel, which has been targeting major Syrian military installations throughout the country since Sunday with the aim of destroying them.

Siria, per Putin sconfitta o disimpegno concordato?

"Israel's plan is for the new Syria to have only simple weapons at its disposal," says the National Observatory for Human Rights in Syria. "With more than 320 air raids in 48 hours Israel has destroyed and is destroying every present and future military capability of the Syrian armed forces," reads the Observatory's report. "Israel has completely destroyed research centres, airports, radar installations, air defence, naval equipment, ammunition depots". The UN states, however, that Israeli forces are occupying a demilitarised buffer zone in violation of a ceasefire agreement, an operation also condemned by Iran and Turkey.
"In the past three days, 4,000 Iranian citizens have been repatriated to Iran," said Fatemeh Mohajerani, the Tehran government spokeswoman.

Meanwhile, a total of 480 air raids have been carried out by Israel on military targets in the last 48 hours in Syria, including anti-aircraft batteries, airports, weapons production sites, weapons depots, and military facilities. The IDF reported this, adding that it destroyed "most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria". The Israeli Navy also targeted two Syrian naval facilities, "destroying 15 ships", the Israeli army adds in a statement on Telegram.

Dalla mimetica al doppiopetto: chi è al-Jawlani, leader dei ribelli siriani

Katz, we will establish demilitarised zone in southern Syria

Defence Minister Israel Katz, visiting the Haifa Navy base, reiterated that the IDF is creating a demilitarised zone, without a permanent Israeli presence, beyond the buffer zone, the so-called Alpha Line, in Syrian territory. Two days ago it was reported that the army took control of the military base on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon after Assad's forces withdrew, to prevent rebels from approaching the border with Israel. Channel 12 stated that the IDF went as far as 14 kilometres deep into Syrian territory.

Rebel leaders, soon to list wanted former regime involved in torture

The new transitional government in Damascus will soon release a list of former regime officials 'involved in torture of the Syrian people'. This was announced by rebel leader Mohammed al Jawlani on Telegram, where he signs his real name, Ahmed al Sharaa: "We will offer rewards to anyone who provides information on army and security officers involved in war crimes". "We will not hesitate," added the Hayat Tahrir al Sham (Hts) leader, who entered Damascus on Sunday, "to hold accountable the criminals, the murderers, the officers involved in torturing the Syrian people. We will pursue the war criminals and demand their surrender to the countries to which they fled'. Then, al Jawlani reiterated 'our commitment to tolerance towards those whose hands are not stained with the blood of the Syrian people and we have granted amnesty to those who were on compulsory service'.

Erdogan to Rutte, 'Syria to be governed by Syrians'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara 'has defended the preservation of Syria's territorial integrity and stability since day one of the civil war' and that 'Syria should be governed by Syrians', during a telephone conversation with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. "Turkey will continue to do its best to build a whole Syria cleansed of terrorism," the Turkish leader added, as reported by the Ankara Republic Presidency.

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that up to 20 thousand Syrian refugees in Turkey will be able to return to Syria every day. "Our daily capacity at the border crossings for voluntary, safe and dignified repatriations was about 3,000 people. This was a sufficient capacity because 350-400 people a day were crossing. However, as the number of crossings could grow, we have now increased this capacity to 15-20 thousand,' Yerlikaya said, while already for the past two days a large number of Syrians have been heading for the border crossings.

G7 draft, "new government in Syria respects minorities"

The G7 leaders are prepared to support a new Syrian government if the transition process respects minorities. This was reported by Bloomberg news agency citing a draft communiqué of the G7, which will meet in the coming days. The G7 'hopes that all opposition groups seeking a role in Syria's government will demonstrate their commitment to the rights of all Syrians,' the communiqué reads.