The rebels who ousted President Bashar al-Assad and are now in power in Syria have appointed Mohammed al-Bashir as the transitional head of government.
He will lead the country until March 1. Al-Bashir played a significant role in the efforts to bring down al-Assad’s regime.
“The general command has tasked us with running the transitional government until March 1,” al-Bashir stated via a message on state television’s Telegram account, where he was referred to as “the new Syrian prime minister.”
Assad fled Syria as an Islamist-led rebel alliance stormed into the capital, Damascus, on Sunday, marking the end of five decades of brutal rule by his family.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who led the offensive that forced Assad out, announced that talks on a transfer of power were underway.
He also vowed to pursue former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.
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Al-Jolani’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has roots in Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch and is designated as a terrorist organization by many Western governments, although it has attempted to moderate its rhetoric.
In related news, Turkey, along with several Middle Eastern countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, has accused Israel of exploiting Assad’s downfall to conduct attacks in a buffer zone in Syria.
This accusation comes after the Israeli military acknowledged its troops are operating in Syrian territories beyond the demilitarised buffer zones between Syria and the Isreali-occupied Golan Heights.
Israeli military claimed it destroyed Syria’s military fleet and said it would set up ‘sterile defensive.
Rebel leaders declare senior officials in Assad’s regime wanted for war crime.
Earlier, the main Islamist rebel leader in Syria said senior officials of the Assad regime who were involved in torturing political prisoners would be named and are wanted for their involvement in war crimes.
It comes after rebel fighters said that 40 bodies discovered in a hospital morgue showed signs of torture.
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