'Syria must remain united': HTS chief says rebel factions will be disbanded

The leader of the Islamist group that toppled Bashar al-Assad said Monday that rebel factions in war-torn Syria would be “disbanded” and their fighters placed under the defence ministry, and called for sanctions to be lifted so refugees can return.

Syrian president Assad was toppled by a lightning 11-day rebel offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS), whose fighters and allies swept down from northwest Syria and entered the capital on December 8.

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani said Monday on the group’s Telegram channel that all the rebel factions would “be disbanded and the fighters trained to join the ranks of the defence ministry”.

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“All will be subject to the law,” said Jolani, who now uses his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

He also emphasised the need for unity in a country home to different ethnic minority groups and religions, while speaking to members of the Druze community – a branch of Shiite Islam making up about 3 percent of Syria’s pre-war population.

“Syria must remain united,” he said. “There must be a social contract between the state and all religions to guarantee social justice”.

Several countries and organisations have welcomed Assad’s fall but said they were waiting to see how the new authorities would treat minorities in the country.

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During a second meeting with a delegation of British diplomats, the HTS leader also spoke “of the importance of restoring relations” with London.

He stressed the need to end “all sanctions imposed on Syria so that Syrian refugees can return to their country”, according to remarks reported on his group’s Telegram channel.

HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric.

Since the toppling of Assad, it has insisted that the rights of all Syrians will be protected.