Syrian Interim Govt Vows ‘Rule Of Law’ After Assad’s Fall Amid US Warnings Of Escalation

Syria’s interim government vowed on Thursday to institute the “rule of law” after years of abuses under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, as the United States warned against any action that risked triggering further conflict.

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of iron-fisted rule by his clan.

Syrians across the country and around the world erupted in celebration after enduring an era during which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and nearly 14 years of war that killed 500,000 people and displaced millions.

“We were living in oppression, we were unable to speak,” Ibtissam Kaab, a resident of Assad’s hometown Qardaha, told AFP.

“Whenever we wanted to speak, they threatened to harm us and our children.” The new government’s spokesman told AFP on Thursday that the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended for the duration of a three-month transition.

“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” Obaida Arnaout said. Speaking at the state television headquarters, seized by the new rebel authorities, Arnaout said they would institute the “rule of law”.

“All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law,” he added. Asked about religious and personal freedoms, he said “we respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria”.

Warning against ‘additional conflicts’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Jordan on Thursday, said it was “really important at this time that we all try to make sure that we’re not sparking any additional conflicts.” He made the comments after mentioning recent Israeli and Turkish military activity on Syrian soil.

The US hopes to ensure that Syria is not “used as a base for terrorism” and does not pose “a threat to its neighbours”, Blinken added. This has been a key concern both for Turkey, which resents the US military alliance with Syrian Kurds, and Israel, which has been pounding sites across its historic adversary since Assad fell.

On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported Israeli strikes near Damascus, where AFP correspondents said they heard loud explosions. Blinken said the Israeli air strikes aim “to try to make sure that the military equipment that’s been abandoned by the Syrian army doesn’t fall into the wrong hands”.

The top US diplomat also said Washington was “working to bring home” American Travis Timmerman, after Syria’s new leadership announced he had been released. The Syrian leadership said it was ready to cooperate with Washington to look for US citizens disappeared under Assad, including on an “ongoing” search for US journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in 2012.

Calls for ‘inclusive’ transition
Also on Thursday, leaders of the Group of Seven powers said they were ready to support the transition to an “inclusive and non-sectarian” government in Syria. They called for the protection of human rights, including those of women and minorities, while emphasising “the importance of holding the Assad regime accountable for its crimes”.

The joy sparked by Assad’s overthrow has been accompanied by uncertainty about the future of the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional country. Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric.

The new rulers have also pledged justice for the victims of Assad’s rule, with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani vowing that officials involved in torturing detainees will not be pardoned.

Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, also urged “countries to hand over any of those criminals who may have fled so they can be brought to justice”. UN investigators said they have compiled secret lists of 4,000 perpetrators of serious crimes in Syria since the early days of the country’s civil war.

“It is very important that the top level perpetrators are brought to justice,” Linnea Arvidsson, who coordinates the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria, told AFP.

‘Starting to feel safe’
The UN’s World Food Programme meanwhile called for $250 million for food assistance for displaced and vulnerable people in Syria over the next six months. The Baath party of the deposed president meanwhile announced it would suspend its work “in all its forms… until further notice” and hand over assets to the authorities.

Assad was propped up by Russia, where he reportedly fled, as well as Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group. The rebels launched their offensive on November 27, the same day that a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war, which saw Israel inflict staggering losses in the ranks of Assad’s Lebanese ally.

Israel has conducted hundreds of air strikes on Syria since the start of its civil war in 2011. It has intensified its strikes in recent days, and has sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, in a move the UN said violated the 1974 armistice.

In the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, seized from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, many residents said they hoped for peace with Israel — and a return to Syrian control.