11/12/2024 06:22
The Guardian
Mohammed al-Bashir chairs cabinet meeting of new transitional government and will lead interim authority until 1 MarchSyrian rebels name new PM as outside powers move to shore up interestsHello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Middle East crisis.Syria’s new interim leader said it was time for “stability and calm” in the country as he announced he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.Israel says it has carried out more than 480 airstrikes targeting weapons stockpiles and strategic infrastructure in Syria over the past 48 hours. The IDF said the air force conducted the crewed aircraft missile strikes on Syrian military targets including weapons production sites in the cities of Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia and Palmyra. It said 130 strikes were “during ground operations” and aimed at weapons depots, military structures, launchers and firing positions.The world “has nothing to fear” from the new Syrian regime, the leader of rebel group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) has told Sky News in what the network says are his first comments to a western media outlet since his organization toppled Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attempted to reassure foreign nations in his remarks and promised Syria “will be rebuilt”.Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow is “providing sanctuary” for deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, having transported him to Moscow on Sunday “in the most secure way possible”. “He is secured, and it shows that Russia acts as required in such an extraordinary situation,” he told NBC News.The insurgent group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria claims to have wrested control of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour after intense battles with the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), AP reported. A member of the Islamic group Hayat al-Tahrir Sham (HTS) said in a recorded video that the group would sweep neighbourhoods to secure the city. The nearby city of Boukamal had also fallen to HTS, the person said, adding that Raqqa and Hasakah were subsequent targets.The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 218 people were killed in three days of fighting between Turkish-backed forces and the SDF in Manbij, north-east of Damascus. Early on Wednesday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said the SDF and the Turkey-backed rebels had reached a ceasefire agreement in Manbij through US mediation.Outgoing US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has called for an “inclusive” political process in Syria, saying the US would eventually recognise a new government if it renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. “The Syrian people will decide the future of Syria. All nations should pledge to support an inclusive and transparent process and refrain from external interference,” Blinken said in a statement.The UN would consider taking the Syrian rebel group that toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad off its designated terrorist list if it passes the key test of forming a truly inclusive transitional government, according to a senior official at the world body. Geir Pedersen, UN special envoy for Syria, held out the prospect of removing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the organisation’s list of proscribed terrorist groups. But he said the group could not seek to govern Syria in the way that it had governed Idlib, the northern province where it was based and from where it led the military breakout that resulted in the sudden collapse of the Assad regime. Continue reading...
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