Syria’s rebel leader vows to disband armed factions

Beirut: The leader of the rebel coalition that swept to power in Syria over a week ago said that all armed groups in the country would be dissolved, Syrian state news media reported Tuesday, as the new government tries to rebuild a functioning state.

Just over a week after President Bashar Assad’s fall, the new authorities in the Syrian capital, Damascus, have sought to project stability after almost 14 years of civil war. Ahmad al-Sharaa, the leader of the rebel coalition, said Monday that all rebel groups in the country would be disbanded and their fighters brought under the authority of the Defense Ministry, according to a statement posted by SANA, Syria’s state news agency.

“Everyone will be subject to the law,” he said.

It was not clear from al-Sharaa’s comments how or when this would 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 al-Sharaa, to be a terrorist organization, a label that severely limits the aid that countries and organizations can provide to the new government. 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 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.

Work has begun 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 the Aleppo airport, a sharp contrast from the images of armed fighters roaming the terminal after it was captured in the lightning rebel advance just weeks ago.

In another post Tuesday, SANA reported a meeting between top British diplomats and al-Sharaa. 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, al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, urged Britain during the meeting to lift sanctions on Syria and to restore relations between the two countries, according to SANA.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said Tuesday that the European Union would need to continue its engagement with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other factions in Syria to help the country rebuild.

“We would need to start a discussion on sanctions reliefs,” she said, speaking in Ankara, Turkey, alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “But this can only happen if real progress on a peaceful transition is seen on the ground.”

Von der Leyen said that Europe was committed to supporting Syria’s reconstruction and that the first delivery of supplies donated from Europe would arrive in the coming days. The European Commission said last week that it would give more than 100 tons of food, medicine and health supplies to Syria.

Addressing suggestions among some European politicians that Syrian refugees in Europe should be asked to return, von der Leyen said that a lack of predictability about Syria’s near future meant that people could only return if they volunteered to do so.

Since Syria’s new leaders took power, there have been fears of a breakdown in security and of vengeance attacks against supporters of the Assad regime. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said last week that Syria’s new government would hunt down senior Assad regime officials implicated in crimes, while rank-and-file conscripted soldiers would receive amnesty. The transitional government has called for former regime soldiers and military officers to turn themselves in at so-called reconciliation centers that are being set up across the country.

“We will not relent in holding accountable the criminals, murderers and security and military officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” al-Sharaa said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. He added that the rebel group would soon announce “List No. 1” containing senior figures “implicated in the torture of the Syrian people.”

As Syria’s new authorities attempt to balance those calls for justice with the need for stability, they have 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 could enroll in police academies in Damascus and other major cities, and directed them to a registration link to begin the process.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham evolved from a branch of al-Qaida, but the alliance has tried to shed its extremist roots in recent years, a pivot that analysts said was intended to appeal to the West. Al-Sharaa focused on reconstruction and inclusion in an interview with The New York Times and other outlets Monday, although with few details on how the new government’s proposals would be carried out.

“Syria is tired of wars, and we want to build a state and institutions away from conflicts,” he said.