Syria's de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said the country was exhausted by war and did not pose a threat to its neighbors or the West.
In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, he called for lifting the sanctions imposed on Syria.
Al-Sharaa led the lightning attack that toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime less than two weeks ago. He is the leader of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, the dominant group in the rebel coalition, and was previously known by his wartime alias Abu Muhammad al-Julani.
He said that Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham must be removed from the list of terrorist organizations. Designated as one by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, among many others, it began as a splinter group of Al-Qaeda, from which it broke away in 2016.
Al-Sharaa said that Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham is not a terrorist group.
He added that it did not target civilians or civilian areas. In fact, they considered themselves victims of the crimes of the Assad regime. He said victims should not be treated in the same way as oppressors.
He denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a copy of Afghanistan.
Al-Sharaa said that the two countries are very different, and have different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. He added that there is a different mentality in Syria. He said he believed in women's education.
Al-Sharaa was calm throughout the interview, wearing civilian clothes, and tried to reassure everyone who believed that his group had not separated from its extremist past.
Many Syrians do not believe him.
The actions of Syria's new rulers in the next few months will indicate the kind of country they want Syria to be – and the way they want to govern it.
