“They represent the best of the worst, or the worst of the best” – Libération

The northwestern province of Syria is led by the Hayat-Tahrir al-Sham movement, now in power since 2017. Without being democratic, it has managed to restore a semblance of normal life there, by working for the return of electricity and by being conciliatory with minorities.

Lit streets, shops with full stalls, wooden kiosks where coffee and cakes are served, wifi terminals, shiny marble restaurants where young waiters with gloved hands are busy. In post-Assad Syria, the northwestern city of Idlib is an anomaly. Lively, clean, largely rebuilt, it offers an unprecedented quality of life in a ravaged country where ruined cities, which will probably have to be razed before we can hope to rebuild them, are the norm. That's it for the surface. But underneath? Is Hayat-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that controls the province of Idlib, where around four million inhabitants live, able to govern Syria since it ousted the Assad regime in early December at the end of a dazzling offensive?

Obeid (1), an activist from Idlib, struggles to respond. “Let's say they represent the best of the worst, or the worst of the best, I don't know. Even if obviously, nothing can be worse than the regime of Bashar al-Assad.” He knows HTS well, he has spoken with its leaders and seen them take power in the city and the province