Mohammad al-Bashir, Prime Minister in charge of the transition in Syria, tries to reassure.
The rebel coalition that ousted Bashar al-Assad from power will respect the rights of all minorities, he assures.
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Syria: the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime
The Prime Minister in charge of the transition in Syria assured Wednesday that the rebel coalition, led by radical Islamists, which ousted Bashar al-Assad from power would guarantee the rights of all communities, calling on the millions of exiles to return to the country .
While Western countries are concerned about how the new power, dominated by the radical Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, will treat the many minorities in Syria, the Prime Minister, Mohammad al-Bashir, wanted to reassure.
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“It is precisely because we are Muslims that we will guarantee the rights of all (…) and all faiths in Syria”he said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Serathe day after his appointment to lead a transitional government until March 1.
HTS claims to have broken with jihadism but remains classified as a movement “terrorist” by several Western countries, including the United States.
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Mr. Bashir further called on exiled Syrians to return home to “rebuild” the country, with a Sunni Arab majority, where several ethnic and religious communities coexist.
Some six million Syrians, a quarter of the population, have fled the country since 2011, when the repression of pro-democracy protests sparked a devastating war that left more than half a million dead.
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