Syria | UN warns conflict is not ‘over’

(Damascus) The UN warned Tuesday that the conflict was “not yet over” in Syria, where the new authorities dominated by radical Islamists are trying to reassure their ability to pacify and reunify the country, fragmented and devastated. by 13 years of civil war.

While several foreign missions met the new leaders in Damascus, the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, spoke to the Security Council about the clashes in the north of the country between Syrian Kurdish forces and groups supported by Turkey, in the wake of the rebel offensive which ousted Bashar al-Assad from power on December 8.

He said he was “seriously concerned” by the expiry of a ceasefire, negotiated under American aegis, before Washington announced its extension “until the end of the week”.

Supporting the new Syrian power, Turkey believes that the Kurdish forces established in the northeast – supported by the United States against the jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) group – come from its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Separatist PKK.

“Dissolution” of armed factions

The new power intends to extend its authority over the Kurdish areas of north-eastern Syria, the military leader of the radical group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who took charge, told AFP.

Mourhaf Abou Qasra, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamwi, announced that “the next step” would be the dissolution of the armed factions to merge them into the future military institution. The HTS will be “the first to take the initiative” to dissolve, he added.

He also called on the UN, the United States and the European countries concerned to remove HTS – the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, which claims to have broken with jihadism – from their lists of “terrorist” organizations.

Although with suspicion, the West is seeking to establish links with the new power.

France, whose flag was again raised over the embassy, ​​closed since 2012, Germany and the United Kingdom sent envoys to Damascus and Washington established contacts with HTS.

German diplomats held initial talks with the head of HTS on Tuesday, according to the German Foreign Ministry.

“France is preparing to be alongside the Syrians,” declared French envoy Jean-François Guillaume.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, judged that the EU – which said it was “ready” to reopen its representation in Damascus – should “intensify” its relationship with HTS.

“Wolf in lamb’s clothing”

Israel, for its part, displays its distrust of the new authorities of the neighboring country: its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, held a security meeting in Syria on Tuesday, at the summit of Mount Hermon, on the borders of the part of the Golan occupied and annexed by Israel, where the Israeli army was deployed after December 8.

His Deputy Foreign Minister, Sharren Haskel, described the leader of HTS, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, who now calls himself by his real name, Ahmad al-Chareh, a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. The Israeli army has heavily bombed Syrian military sites since December 8, to prevent their capture by the new authorities.

The HTS military chief called for an end to Israeli strikes and “incursions”.

Across the country, residents are working to resume their lives, nearly 14 years after the start of the civil war, triggered in 2011 by the repression of pro-democracy demonstrations, and which left half a million dead and pushed exile six million Syrians.

In the old souks of Damascus, where most shops have reopened, traders painted their facades white to erase the colors of the old Syrian flag with two stars.

Most prices of basic necessities have fallen with the temporary lifting of taxes.

“No basic service”

“Everything happened at once: the fall of the regime, the fall in prices, the improvement of life. We hope it’s not temporary,” says Abou Imad, who transformed his car into a small grocery store in a square in the capital.

But the UN estimates that seven out of ten Syrians need international aid and on Tuesday “advised” against a “large-scale” return of refugees until the situation is stabilized.

In a country with a Sunni majority, but multi-ethnic and multi-faith, the new authorities are also being scrutinized for the treatment that will be reserved for minorities.

According to the UN migration agency (IOM), members of religious minorities have fled the country for fear of “potential threats”.

Mr. Chareh advocated on Monday “a social contract between the State and all faiths to guarantee social justice”.

Before a British delegation, he also “underlined the need to lift all sanctions imposed on Syria in order to allow the return of refugees”.

Some have started to return to their homes, such as in Maaret al-Noomane, in the west, where the fighting that broke out in 2012 left a landscape of devastation.

Kifah Jaafer, local head of the “Directorate of Liberated Areas”, recalls that “the city lacks everything”, noting that there are “no schools, none of the basic services […] It will be necessary […] lots of help.”