Trump Criticizes Decision To Allow Ukraine To Strike Inside Russia

With ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad somewhere in Russia, the new de facto rulers in Damascus have begun efforts to stabilize the situation as a wary global community awaited developments with caution.

The rebels, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist militant group, announced on December 9 that they were granting amnesty to all military personnel conscripted during Assad’s rule, which began in 2000 following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who had seized power in 1970.

Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Ghazi al-Jalali — who has remained at his post and vowed to cooperate with the new rulers — said most cabinet ministers were still in their offices. Jalali met earlier with the new leaders, according to a rebel statement.

“We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,” he said in comments to Sky News Arabia TV.

Reports out of the rebel camp said veteran politician Muhammad al-Bashir has been chosen to lead the transitional government. He has been serving as head of HTS’s so-called Syrian Salvation Government for the past year.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is set to convene for an emergency session on the situation in Syria on December 9 following the ouster of Assad, who fled to Russia with his family as rebel troops bore down on Damascus.

The emergency session — called by long-standing Assad-backer Russia — will be held behind closed doors as world and regional powers call for stability in the civil war-wracked Middle Eastern country.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on December 9 that while President Vladimir Putin made the decision personally to grant asylum to Assad and his family, there was no obligation to give any further details

“I have nothing to tell you about the whereabouts of Assad,” Peskov added.

The TASS news agency quoted an official at the Syrian Embassy in Moscow as saying Assad was in the Russian capital. The report has not been confirmed.

Air strikes could be heard in Damascus early on December 9, according to media reports, although it was not immediately clear who conducted the strikes.

Earlier, Reuters reported that Israel had conducted three air strikes on the Syrian capital on December 8.

In Damascus and other Syrian cities, people took to the streets to celebrate Assad’s ouster, pulling down statues, and ransacking government buildings and Assad’s residence.

Social-media footage showed crowds of men entering the presidential place in Damascus, with reports of looting.

The HTS-led rebels said in a statement aired on state TV that Damascus was “now free of Assad,” whose family had ruled the country with an iron fist since 1971.

HTS has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and European Union. In recent years, the group severed ties with Al-Qaeda and sought to remake itself as a pragmatic alternative to the Syrian government.

But some rights groups and Western governments say questions remain over its alleged rights abuses and ties to terrorist groups.

HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani has sought to reassure Shi’ite Alawites and other Syrian minorities, including Christians, that he will not discriminate against minorities.

Hagop Khatcharian, an Armenian living in Damascus, told RFE/RL that the “situation is calm now.”

“I am always in touch with local Armenians; they are safe, and there is no issue. There hasn’t been any significant trouble yet, but there is uncertainty about what the future holds,” he said, adding that he remained wary of promises by the new leaders that no harm will come to minorities.

In Washington, President Joe Biden said the United States “will engage with all Syrian groups” as the country transitions to a post-Assad government.

“Assad should be held accountable,” Biden said, but cautioned that some of the rebel groups that helped overthrow Assad “have their own grim record” of human rights abuses even though they have been “saying the right things” in recent days.

He said the United States will be closely watching the activities of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, which could seek to use the power vacuum to again establish rule in Syria.

EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said the bloc was “not currently engaging with HTS or its leaders, full stop.”

He said that, despite some hopeful words from the rebel groups, the EU would reserve judgment for now. “As HTS takes on greater responsibilities, we will need to assess not just their words but also their actions,” he said.

The EU earlier urged a peaceful political transition in Syria, saying that “it is imperative that all stakeholders engage in an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned dialogue on all key issues.”

In a joint statement, France and Germany said they were conditionally ready to work with the new leaders.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron “agreed that they were ready to cooperate with the new leadership on the basis of fundamental human rights and the protection of ethnic and religious minorities,” Berlin said in a statement.

NATO chief Mark Rutte was also cautious as he called for a peaceful transition and an inclusive political process in Syria.

“This is a moment of joy but also uncertainty for the people of Syria and the region. We hope for a peaceful transition of power and an inclusive Syrian-led political process,” said Rutte, who blamed Assad’s main backers — Russia and Iran — for the long crisis and civil war in the country.

Several European states on December 9 announced they were suspending the granting of asylum requests from Syrians as they awaited developments.

The flood of Syrian refugees during the country’s 14-year civil war has been blasted by far-right politicians in Europe and used by many to bolster their support among voters.

Among the countries announcing suspensions were Germany, Britain, France, Austria, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

The German Interior Ministry said 974,136 people with Syrian nationality were living in the country, with 5,090 having been recognized as eligible for asylum, 321,444 granted refugee status, and 329,242 granted temporary protection.

The Syrian civil war began after Assad’s regime unleashed a brutal crackdown in March 2011 against peaceful demonstrators inspired by the wave of protests known as the Arab Spring that were sweeping the Middle East at the time.

Beginning in 2015, Russia intervened in the civil war on Assad’s side, unleashing a massive bombing campaign against the rebel groups, including Islamist militants, causing numerous civilian casualties and prompting tens of thousands to flee.

The fall of the Assad regime marks a major geopolitical setback for the Kremlin, which, along with Iran, has propped up his government, experts say.

Biden said Russia had been weakened by the nearly three-year war in Ukraine while Iran’s proxies in the region have been crushed by Israel.

Besides Russia, Assad has relied on Iran and its Hezbollah proxies to remain in power since the conflict erupted in 2011. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it expects “friendly” relations with Syria to continue and it would take “appropriate approaches” toward Damascus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Assad’s fall “a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah.”

He hailed Assad’s overthrow as the fall of a “central link in Iran’s axis of evil.”

Israel has launched a monthslong air campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

Russia has an estimated 7,500 troops and multiple military sites in Syria, including an air base at Hmeimim and strategic naval facilities at Tartus, which are also used to support the Kremlin’s actions in North and sub-Saharan Africa.

Ruslan Suleymanov, a Russian expert on the Middle East, told RFE/RL that Moscow would “cooperate with the rebels” if they take power in Damascus and that HTS too had “claimed previously that it was ready to negotiate” with the Kremlin.

“Putin wants to save his military presence in the region. In any case, to do that, he has to make concessions — both to jihadists and to [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, who supports [the rebels],” Suleymanov said.

The United States said it will maintain its presence in eastern Syria and will take measures necessary to prevent a resurgence of IS in the region. The United States has about 900 soldiers in Syria.

Tom Fletcher, head of the UN humanitarian aid agency, warned about the plight of the millions of Syrians displaced by nearly 14 years of civil war. Now many more are in danger, Fletcher said.

“We will respond wherever, whenever, however we can, to support people in need, including reception centers — food, water, fuel, tents, blankets,” he said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), meanwhile, cautioned that the armed groups that ousted Assad should ensure humane treatment for all Syrians.

“The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government offers Syrians an unprecedented opportunity to chart a new future built on justice, accountability, and respect for human rights,” HRW said in a statement.

Amnesty International also called the end of the Assad regime “a historic opportunity to end and redress decades of grave human rights violations” in Syria.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, and dpa