Syria since Assad’s overthrow: Latest developments

It has been nine days since the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria.

His overthrow brought to a stunning end five decades of rule by the Assad clan that was marked by fear and horrific abuses, but it also plunged Syria into the unknown.

Here are some key latest developments in Syria:

Rebel factions in Syria to be ‘disbanded’

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said that all rebel factions in Syria would “be disbanded and the fighters trained to join the ranks of the defence ministry”.

“All will be subject to the law,” said Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a message on his group’s Telegram channel.

Assad breaks silence

Assad put out his first statement since he was ousted, saying he fled Syria for Russia only after Damascus had fallen, and he denounced the country’s new leaders as “terrorists”.

“My departure from Syria was neither planned. It also didn’t occur during the final hours of the battles,” said the statement on the ousted presidency’s Telegram channel.

Former officials had told AFP that Assad was already out of the country hours before the rebels seized Damascus.

Trump reacts to ‘unfriendly takeover’

United States President-elect Donald Trump characterised the ousting of Assad as an “unfriendly takeover” by Turkey. The country has historically backed the opposition.

“I think Turkey is very smart… Turkey did an unfriendly takeover without a lot of lives being lost. I can say that Assad was a butcher. Look at what he did to children,” Trump told reporters at his residence in Florida.

US, European allies hold talks on Syria

Rome has announced that foreign ministers from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy will hold talks on Syria on Tuesday.

“We hope that the first positive signals will transform into concrete positive signals,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

On Monday, European Union (UN) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the bloc’s envoy to Syria was going to Damascus to talk to the new Islamist-led rulers.

EU nations, like others in the West, are wary of Syria’s new leadership. HTS is listed as a “terrorist” group by several governments.

Rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda, HTS has sought to moderate its rhetoric, vowing protection for minorities, peace for the war-ravaged country and justice for victims of Assad’s rule.

“We can’t leave a vacuum,” Kallas said.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said his government had sent senior officials to meet with Syria’s new leadership.

UN special envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen had met with Jolani and interim prime minister Mohammad al-Bashir earlier.

UN aid call

On a visit to Damascus, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said on Monday that seven of every ten Syrians needed aid.

“We want to get a massive flow of support into Syria, really scale up fast,” he said. “Food, medicine, shelter, but also the funds to redevelop a Syria that people can believe in again. We want a hopeful narrative for Syria.”

Moneychangers and traders said the Syrian pound has begun to recover against the dollar. Foreign currencies have also again become available on the local market.

Israeli strikes on Syria

Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria since Assad’s overthrow.

On Monday, a war monitor said Israeli strikes targeted military sites in Syria’s coastal Tartus region.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strikes were “the heaviest” in the area in years.

Tartus is also home to a Russian-controlled port. Islamist fighters manning a nearby checkpoint told AFP they were under orders not to approach the Russian forces, which had long backed Assad.

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