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