Blitz Bureau
THE lightning overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad left Syrians, countries in the region and world powers nervous on December 10 about what comes next as the rebel alliance took its first steps in a government transition, according to Reuters.
The United Nations Security Council met behind closed doors late on December 9, and diplomats said they were still in shock at how quickly Assad’s overthrow unfolded over 12 days, after a 13-year civil war that was locked in stalemate for years.
With the mood in Damascus still celebratory, Assad’s prime minister, Mohammed Jalali, has agreed to hand power to the rebel-led Salvation Government, an administration based in rebel-held territory in northwest Syria.
The main rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, met with Jalali and Vice- President Faisal Mekdad to discuss the transitional government, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters. Jalali said the handover could take days to carry out.
The lightning advance of a militia alliance spearheaded by Hayat alTahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former alQaeda affiliate, marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations.
Moscow gave asylum to Assad and his family, Russian media reported.
HTS is still designated as a terrorist group by the U.S., Turkey and the United Nations. The rebels face a monumental task of rebuilding and running a country after a war that left hundreds of thousands dead, cities pounded to dust and an economy hollowed by global sanctions. Syria will need billions of dollars in aid. “A new history, my brothers, is being written in the entire region after this great victory,” Golani, the head of HTS.
Speaking to a huge crowd on December 8 at Damascus’ Umayyad Mosque, Golani said with hard work Syria would be “a beacon for the Islamic nation.”
