cableThe prime minister of Syria's new transitional government said it was time for people to enjoy “stability and calm” after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Mohammed al-Bashir, the former head of the rebel administration in the northwest, was speaking to Al Jazeera after being assigned to rule until March 2025 by the armed Islamic group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies.
Al-Bashir chaired a meeting in Damascus on Tuesday, attended by members of his new government and ministers of the previous Assad government, to discuss the transfer of ministerial portfolios and institutions.
This came at a time when the United Nations envoy to Syria said that the rebels must turn their “good messages” into practice on the ground.
Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State said that Washington would recognize and fully support the future Syrian government as long as it emerges from an inclusive and credible process that respects minorities.
In 2011, Assad brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising, sparking a devastating civil war in which more than half a million people were killed and another 12 million forced to flee their homes.
Before this week, Muhammad al-Bashir was little known outside the areas controlled by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in the northwestern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.
According to his CV, he was trained as an electrical engineer and worked in gas stations before the civil war began in 2011.
In January, Al-Bashir was appointed prime minister of the “Salvation Government” established by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham to administer the territories under its control.
Public Security worked as a state, with ministries, local administrations, judicial and security authorities, while maintaining a religious council guided by Islamic law.
About four million people, many of them displaced from elsewhere in the country, lived under its rule.
When institutions stopped functioning in Aleppo after Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and its allies took control of the city earlier this month at the start of their lightning offensive, the Salvation Government intervened to restore public services.
Technicians reportedly helped repair local electricity and communications networks, security forces patrolled the streets, medics volunteered in hospitals, and charities distributed bread.
Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani was heard telling former Assad Prime Minister Muhammad al-Julani: “It is true that Idlib is a small region that lacks resources, but they (Assad government officials) have a very high level of experience after starting from nothing.” -Al-Jalali in a video of a meeting in Damascus on Monday.
He added, “We will benefit from your experiences. We will certainly not ignore you.”
Bashir was photographed on Tuesday chairing a meeting of former Sudanese government ministers and ministers who served under Jalali. He sat in front of the flags of the Syrian opposition and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.
“(We) have invited members of the old government and some managers from the administration in Idlib and its surrounding areas in order to facilitate all the necessary work for the next two months so that we have a constitutional system and are able to serve the Syrian people,” Al-Bashir told Al Jazeera afterward.
He added: “We held other meetings to restart institutions to be able to serve our people in Syria.”
Meanwhile, life seems to be slowly returning to normal in the capital, Damascus, after two days of complete lockdown.
There were many pedestrians and cars on the streets, and some shops and restaurants were open.
People were also clearing away empty bullets that had littered the ground around Umayyad Square in the city centre, where several opposition fighters fired into the air as crowds celebrated the end of Assad's 24-year rule.
A Muslim cleric there told the BBC that Syrians were looking to the future and wanted a peaceful and unified country.
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Kouki said, “We want to build a nation built on the principles of nationalism, justice, and the rule of law, a technocratic state in which institutions are respected and equal opportunities are guaranteed for all.”
UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen told reporters in Geneva that the transitional process is necessary to ensure “representation of the broadest possible spectrum of Syrian society and Syrian parties.”
“If this does not happen, we risk a new conflict,” he warned.
Pedersen said that the designation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries would be a “complicating factor” in efforts to find a way forward.
The Nusra Front, the precursor to Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2013. But three years later, it officially cut ties with the jihadist group.
“The truth so far is that Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and other armed groups are sending good messages to the Syrian people… about unity and inclusion,” Pedersen noted.
“We also saw… reassuring things on the ground” in Aleppo and Hama, another major city captured last week, he added.
He said that the most important test will be how to organize and implement the transitional arrangements in Damascus.
“If they truly include all the different groups and all the sects in Syria… then there is the possibility of a new beginning,” he added.
He added, “After that, I think the international community will look at the (terrorist) list of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham again.”
Later, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken actually laid out a series of conditions that, if met, would see Syria receive full recognition from Washington.
“It is essential that all relevant actors protect civilians; respect human rights, especially vulnerable minorities; preserve state institutions and services to help meet the needs of Syrians; and build toward inclusive governance,” he said.
“Rebel leaders’ statements to achieve these goals are very welcome, but of course, the true measure of their commitment is not just what they say but what they do.”
