Keystone-SDA
The new Syrian leader Ahmad al-Chareh received representatives of the Christian clergy in Damascus on Tuesday. This in a context of concerns among minorities who expect guarantees from the authorities installed by a coalition led by radical Islamists.
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December 31, 2024 – 10:12 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) In a multi-faith country, traumatized by nearly 14 years of civil war, this coalition led by the Sunni group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew the power of Bashar al-Assad on December 8.
Faced with the titanic challenges of reconstruction and reconciliation, the new authorities must also make gestures of assurance towards minorities who are worried after recent incidents.
Especially since the power of Bashar al-Assad, whose family from the Alawite Muslim minority has reigned unchallenged over the country for more than half a century, has long posed as the protector of minorities – while repressing any dissent.
Christmas tree burned
“The head of the new Syrian administration Ahmad al-Shareh meets with a delegation from the Christian community,” the “General Command” said on its Telegram application account.
First meeting of its kind, photos show Mr. Chareh, in suit and tie, meeting with several representatives of the Christian, Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Anglican and Syriac Orthodox Churches in particular.
Hundreds of Christians in Damascus demonstrated last week when a Christmas tree was set on fire in a small town in central Syria.
The act of vandalism perpetrated by masked men – foreign fighters from a small jihadist group, according to an NGO – was condemned by a local leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the former Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda which broke up in 2016 its links with the jihadist organization.
Likewise, thousands of Alawite Syrians demonstrated on December 25 in several cities across the country after a video showing an attack on one of their sanctuaries.
Transition inclusive
At the microphone of AFPTV, the head of French diplomacy Jean-Noël Barrot said he hoped, “after the fall of the criminal regime of Bashar al-Assad”, a political transition “which integrates all communities in their diversity, which ensures respect for the most basic rights, fundamental freedoms. »
“Our main expectation is that the Syrians can take control of their own destiny,” Mr. Barrot said on Tuesday, speaking during a trip to Lebanon.
Female Governor of the Central Bank
A woman has been appointed interim governor of the Central Bank for the first time, an internal source told AFP on Tuesday. Maysaa Sabrine, financial specialist, has held the position of first deputy to the governor of the Syrian Central Bank since 2018.
The new authorities must reassure the international community and for several weeks diplomatic delegations have been jostling in Damascus.
Egypt, Kurds
The head of Syrian diplomacy Assaad al-Chibani reported on Tuesday a telephone call with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, the two men emphasizing the role of their countries in “the stability and prosperity of the region”.
Also illustrating the efforts of the new authorities in terms of openness, Mr. Chareh received on Monday for the first time a delegation from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition dominated by Kurdish fighters and supported by Washington, told AFP an official speaking on condition of anonymity.
Deeming this first meeting “positive”, the manager considered that it was a “preliminary meeting to lay the foundations for a future dialogue”. Mr. Chareh had already said that the SDF should be integrated into the future Syrian army.
Tension still there
On the ground, however, the tension is still there. In the northern metropolis of Aleppo, pro-Turkish fighters killed three members of the local Kurdish security forces on Tuesday by attacking their checkpoint in a neighborhood of the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights ( OSDH).
In their laborious undertaking of restructuring the institutions which is only just beginning, HTS has been accused of monopolizing with its allies the appointments within the interim authorities.
Qoutaïba Ahmed Badaoui has been appointed head of border, land and maritime terminals, the official SANA agency announced on Tuesday. This former HTS commander very briefly headed the Bab al-Hawa border post, linking Idlib (north) to neighboring Turkey according to the OSDH.
