The leader of the rebel coalition that swept to power in Syria over a week ago has emphasized that all armed groups in the country would be dissolved, Syrian state news media reported Tuesday, as the new government attempts to take steps toward rebuilding a functioning state.
Just over a week after President Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, the new authorities in the Syrian capital, Damascus, appear eager to present a sense of stability after almost 14 years of brutal civil war. Ahmed al-Shara, the leader of the rebel coalition, said on Monday that rebel groups in the country would be disbanded and their fighters brought under the authority of the defense ministry, according to a statement posted on SANA, Syria’s state news agency, the following day.
“Everyone will be subject to the law,” he said.
It was not clear from Mr. al-Shara’s comments how or when this may be achieved, or whether the competing armed factions in the country would agree.
The United States and several other countries still consider Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group led by Mr. al-Shara, to be a terrorist organization. But Syria’s new leaders have been meeting with Western diplomats in a bid for international recognition of the government’s legitimacy.
The push to maintain law and order comes as Syria’s new government tries to get public institutions back up and running. Preparations are underway to reopen international airports, and Syria’s state news agency has been broadcasting administrative bulletins about central bank exchange rates and recruitment calls for the police.
Once an arm of the Assad regime, SANA has been posting daily updates on these state-building efforts in an apparent attempt to allay concerns over potential instability.
One of these posts on Tuesday reported a meeting between top British diplomats and Mr. al-Shara. It was the latest in a string of planned early contacts by the rebel coalition with diplomats from the United Nations, the Middle East and Europe. Trading his typical military attire for a dark-gray business suit, Mr. al-Shara, who previously used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, urged Britain during the meeting to lift sanctions on Syria and to restore relations between the two countries, according to the statement from SANA.
Preparations are also underway to reopen Syria’s two main airports, in Damascus and Aleppo, according to SANA. On Monday, the state-run news agency posted pictures on its social media accounts of clean floors and welcome signs at Aleppo airport, a far cry from the images of armed fighters roaming the airport terminal after it was captured in the lightning rebel advance just weeks ago.
Syria’s new authorities have also expanded calls in recent days for citizens to join the country’s police force — once a feared tentacle of the Assad regime’s security apparatus. In a series of posts on SANA, the new interior ministry announced that applicants can enroll in police academies located in Damascus and other major cities, directing them to a registration link to begin the process.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham evolved from a branch of Al Qaeda, but the alliance has tried to shed its extremist roots in recent years, a pivot that analysts said was designed to appeal to the West. Mr. al-Shara’s language focused on reconstruction and inclusion in an interview with The New York Times and other outlets on Monday, albeit with few details on how the new government’s proposals will be carried out.
“Syria is tired of wars, and we want to build a state and institutions away from conflicts,” he said.
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