Syria’s new leadership to consolidate all armed rebel factions into defense ministry
Ahmed al-Sharaa says no weapons to be allowed in Syria outside of state control, including among Kurdish groups in north; US said encouraging Israel to develop ties with new leaders
DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reached an agreement on Tuesday with former rebel faction chiefs to dissolve all groups and consolidate them under the defense ministry, according to a statement from the new administration.
Photos published by the state-run SANA news agency showed Sharaa, also known by nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Julani, surrounded by the heads of several armed factions — but not representatives of the Kurdish-led forces in Syria’s northeast.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had said last week that the ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Bashar al-Assad’s army.
Sharaa will face the daunting task of trying to avoid clashes between the myriad groups.
On Sunday, Sharaa had said the new authorities would “absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control.”
That also applied to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, he said.
The military chief of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that led the insurgency told AFP last week that Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the new leadership, and that “Syria will not be divided.”
The country’s new rulers appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Assad, as defense minister in the interim government.
Syria’s historic ethnic and religious minorities include Muslim Kurds and Shiites – who feared during the civil war that any future Sunni Islamist rule would imperil their way of life — as well as Syriac, Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christians, and the Druze community.
Sharaa has told Western officials visiting him that HTS, which he heads, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, will neither seek revenge against the former regime nor repress any religious minority.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on December 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
US said urging Israel to nurture ties
Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 12 reported Monday that senior American officials have urged their Israeli counterparts to nurture ties with Syria’s new leader.
“Cooperation and communication channels of yours with al-Julani will bolster Israel’s influence in the entire area,” the report quoted US officials as saying. “We are talking about a pragmatic leader who wants to develop strategic relations with the nations of the region.”
Israel was said to be listening to what the Americans are saying, but also suspects that al-Julani is playing the US and international community, and trying to stabilize his control, but has not truly changed his spots.
