The Japan Times - Syria rebels name transitional prime minister

EUR -
AED 4.049778
AFN 78.834299
ALL 99.033342
AMD 431.456343
ANG 1.973823
AOA 1005.540147
ARS 1184.510488
AUD 1.740106
AWG 1.984619
AZN 1.871047
BAM 1.951157
BBD 2.225918
BDT 133.95119
BGN 1.953417
BHD 0.415629
BIF 3226.660051
BMD 1.102566
BND 1.473074
BOB 7.618042
BRL 6.190801
BSD 1.102437
BTN 94.108603
BWP 15.256919
BYN 3.607729
BYR 21610.297969
BZD 2.214448
CAD 1.554541
CDF 3167.672699
CHF 0.949657
CLF 0.027281
CLP 1046.908381
CNY 8.028391
CNH 8.030442
COP 4581.504452
CRC 555.45727
CUC 1.102566
CUP 29.218005
CVE 110.006211
CZK 25.045922
DJF 195.947771
DKK 7.461959
DOP 69.623267
DZD 146.912551
EGP 55.769964
ERN 16.538493
ETB 145.130438
FJD 2.566609
FKP 0.849767
GBP 0.842206
GEL 3.042781
GGP 0.849767
GHS 17.089472
GIP 0.849767
GMD 78.830087
GNF 9541.515201
GTQ 8.509592
GYD 230.665979
HKD 8.575705
HNL 28.207398
HRK 7.54001
HTG 144.267713
HUF 403.661068
IDR 18465.889357
ILS 4.082247
IMP 0.849767
INR 94.030872
IQD 1444.233926
IRR 46431.844181
ISK 144.314781
JEP 0.849767
JMD 173.672773
JOD 0.781606
JPY 161.04578
KES 142.506807
KGS 95.60528
KHR 4409.646484
KMF 500.014042
KPW 992.369183
KRW 1600.661596
KWD 0.339262
KYD 0.918627
KZT 552.612033
LAK 23885.559894
LBP 98786.765454
LKR 327.39557
LRD 220.466371
LSL 20.781097
LTL 3.255591
LVL 0.666932
LYD 5.33219
MAD 10.487244
MDL 19.686991
MGA 5027.940557
MKD 61.511679
MMK 2314.787019
MNT 3851.769118
MOP 8.833576
MRU 43.813776
MUR 50.023376
MVR 16.990372
MWK 1911.842309
MXN 22.023316
MYR 4.897654
MZN 70.451818
NAD 20.780251
NGN 1695.23982
NIO 40.564638
NOK 11.404074
NPR 150.576289
NZD 1.901293
OMR 0.424466
PAB 1.102556
PEN 4.048086
PGK 4.549174
PHP 62.857624
PKR 309.248804
PLN 4.227851
PYG 8845.546281
QAR 4.019435
RON 4.978193
RSD 117.17297
RUB 92.685108
RWF 1572.964625
SAR 4.136492
SBD 9.180809
SCR 15.773594
SDG 662.092022
SEK 10.787111
SGD 1.473199
SHP 0.866444
SLE 25.171542
SLL 23120.263604
SOS 630.003648
SRD 40.298877
STD 22820.894741
SVC 9.647255
SYP 14336.339478
SZL 20.788701
THB 37.64133
TJS 12.001035
TMT 3.870007
TND 3.373498
TOP 2.582323
TRY 41.871279
TTD 7.474586
TWD 36.451059
TZS 2924.510568
UAH 45.517981
UGX 4017.56488
USD 1.102566
UYU 46.573677
UZS 14239.435486
VES 77.098718
VND 28451.721382
VUV 136.24344
WST 3.123386
XAF 654.272445
XAG 0.034516
XAU 0.000355
XCD 2.97974
XDR 0.825967
XOF 654.373081
XPF 119.331742
YER 270.845622
ZAR 20.688194
ZMK 9924.417531
ZMW 30.622794
ZWL 355.025874
  • CMSD

    -0.1100

    22.72

    -0.48%

  • CMSC

    -0.2400

    22.26

    -1.08%

  • RBGPF

    -0.2800

    67.72

    -0.41%

  • SCS

    -0.7200

    10.74

    -6.7%

  • NGG

    3.6100

    69.39

    +5.2%

  • BTI

    1.6700

    41.92

    +3.98%

  • GSK

    1.3700

    39.01

    +3.51%

  • BP

    -2.4700

    31.34

    -7.88%

  • AZN

    1.7000

    73.92

    +2.3%

  • RIO

    -1.4700

    58.43

    -2.52%

  • BCC

    -7.4400

    94.63

    -7.86%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    9.8

    +0.2%

  • BCE

    0.8400

    22.66

    +3.71%

  • RELX

    0.4600

    51.44

    +0.89%

  • VOD

    0.2500

    9.37

    +2.67%

  • JRI

    -0.2200

    12.82

    -1.72%

Syria rebels name transitional prime minister

Syria rebels name transitional prime minister

The rebels who ousted president Bashar al-Assad and are now in power in Syria appointed a transitional head of government Tuesday to run the country until March 1, a statement said.

Text size:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all nations to support an "inclusive" political process in Syria, saying the United States would eventually recognise a government if it meets such standards.

"The general command has tasked us with running the transitional government until March 1," said a statement attributed to Mohammad al-Bashir on state television's Telegram account, referring to him as "the new Syrian prime minister".

Assad fled Syria as an Islamist-led rebel alliance swept into the capital Damascus on Sunday, ending five decades of brutal rule by his clan.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who headed the offensive that forced Assad out, had announced talks on a transfer of power and vowed to pursue former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.

His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is rooted in Syria's Al-Qaeda branch and is proscribed by many Western governments as a terrorist organisation, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric.

Blinken said the future government of Syria should be "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian" after Islamist rebels toppled strongman Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Alawite minority who led a secular dictatorship.

Laying out US priorities, Blinken said the new government must "uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities" and allow the flow of humanitarian assistance.

The United States wanted the next government to "prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism", he added.

Although they no longer hold any territory in Syria, the jihadists of the Islamic State group remain active.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS fighters killed 54 government troops after capturing them as they fled across the vast Syrian Desert.

The UN envoy for Syria said the groups that forced Assad to flee must transform their "good messages" into actions on the ground.

"They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness," Geir Pedersen said, adding that in Aleppo and Hama, "we have also seen... reassuring things on the ground".

But "what we need not to see is... that this is not followed up in practice in the days and the weeks ahead of us," he added.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned of the risks of sectarian violence and a resurgence of extremism. "We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan," she said.

The overthrow of Assad, who maintained a complex web of prisons and detention centres to keep Syrians from straying from the Baath party line, sparked celebrations around the country and in the diaspora around the world.

The civil war that led up to it killed 500,000 people and forced half the country to flee their homes, millions of them finding refuge abroad.

Jolani, who now uses his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, vowed: "We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people."

He held talks on Monday with outgoing prime minister Mohammed al-Jalali "to coordinate a transfer of power that guarantees the provision of services" to Syria's people, according to a statement on Telegram.

- Thousands missing -

The fall of Assad has sparked a frantic search by families of the tens of thousands of people held in his security services' jails and detention centres.

As they advanced towards Damascus, the rebels released thousands of detainees, but many more remain missing.

A large crowd gathered Monday outside Saydnaya jail, synonymous with the worst atrocities of Assad's rule, to search for relatives, many of whom had spent years in captivity, AFP correspondents reported.

"I'm looking for my brother, who has been missing since 2013. We've looked everywhere for him, we think he's here, in Saydnaya," said 52-year-old Umm Walid.

Crowds of freed prisoners wandered the streets of Damascus, many maimed by torture, weakened by illness and emaciated by hunger.

The United Nations said whoever ended up in power in Syria must hold Assad and his lieutenants to account.

UN investigators who for years have been gathering evidence of horrific crimes called Assad's ouster a "game-changer" because they will now be able to access "the crime scene".

While Syrians were celebrating Assad's ouster, the country now faces enormous uncertainty, and it is unclear whether the dreams of democracy so many sacrificed their lives for will be realised.

- Strikes -

Further complicating prospects, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had recorded more than 300 Israeli strikes on the country since Assad's fall.

Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, called on Israel to stop.

"We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory. This needs to stop," he said.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources around Syria, said Israeli strikes had "destroyed the most important military sites in Syria".

The monitor said the strikes targeted weapons depots, naval vessels and a research centre that Western governments suspected of having links to chemical weapons production.

In the port city of Latakia, smoke was still rising Tuesday from the wreckage of naval vessels half under water in the harbour, an AFP correspondent reported.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the military had been operating in Syria in recent days to "destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel".

"The navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet with great success," he said.

Israel, which borders Syria, also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

Israel backer the United States said the incursion must be "temporary", after the United Nations said Israel was violating the 1974 armistice.

The Israeli defence minister said the military had orders to "establish a sterile defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence."

M.Fujitav--JT