DAMASCUS: A week after a lightning rebel offensive toppled longtime leader Bashar Al Assad, the United Nations special envoy for Syria on Sunday called for justice to prevail, not revenge.
Syrians are only now beginning to scratch the surface of the atrocities committed, after the former despot fled the country for Russia.
“We need to see of course justice and accountability for crimes,” UN envoy Geir Pedersen said after arriving in Damascus.
“And we need to make sure that that goes through a credible justice system, and that we don’t see any revenge.”
Pedersen also called for “increased, immediate” aid to war-ravaged Syria, saying it had been through “an enormous... humanitarian crisis”.
“We need to make sure that Syria receives increased, immediate humanitarian assistance,” he said.
Al Assad fled Syria last Sunday following an 11-day rebel offensive led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), bringing to a dramatic end more than 50 years of Al Assad rule.
He told France Inter radio the four-strong team would “retake possession of our real estate” as well as “establishing initial contact” with the new authorities.
US in contact with HTS
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken revealed Saturday that Washington had made contact with Syria’s Hayat Tahrir Al Sham rebels, despite previously designating the group as “terrorists”.
“We’ve been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” Blinken told reporters after talks on Syria in Aqaba in Jordan.
He did not elaborate on how the contact took place but when asked if the United States reached out directly, he said: “Direct contact - yes.”
Blinken said that the easing of US sanctions on Syria imposed during Assad’s rule would depend on “sustained action” by the rebel-installed interim government to meet the expectations of the international community.
HTS says Syria too exhausted for war
HTS leader Abu Mohammed Al Jolani criticised Israel for its incursion into southern Syria this week but said his country was too exhausted for fresh conflict.
“The Israelis have clearly crossed the disengagement line in Syria, which threatens a new unjustified escalation in the region,” he said
Israeli troops entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights last weekend in a move the UN said violated the 1974 armistice agreement.
Golani said that despite the violation, “the general exhaustion in Syria after years of war and conflict does not allow us to enter new conflicts.”
Back to school
Calm is slowly returning to the streets of Damascus, with dozens of children streaming back to school Sunday for the first time since Assad fled.
An official at one school said “no more than 30 per cent” were back on Sunday, but “these numbers will rise gradually”.
A Qatari delegation was due in Syria Sunday to meet transitional government officials for talks on aid and reopening its embassy.
Unlike other Arab states, Qatar never restored diplomatic ties with Al Assad after a rupture in 2011.
Turkey was ready to provide military support to Syria’s new Islamist-led government set up by rebels if it requests it, Defence Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday.
Guler said the new leadership should be given “a chance” and that Ankara was “ready to provide the necessary support” if needed, in remarks reported by Turkish media.
HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al Qaida and is designated a “terrorist” organisation by many Western governments.
Although it has sought to moderate its rhetoric in recent years, its seizure of power has sparked concerns both domestically and internationally over the protection of religious and ethnic minorities.
The interim government insists that the rights of all Syrians will be protected, as will the rule of law.
On Sunday, Syrian Christians attended their first church service since Al Assad’s fall.
Pubs and stores selling alcohol in Damascus initially closed following the rebel victory, but are now tentatively reopening.
The landlord of one Damascus bar said the rebels told him: “’You have the right to work and live your life as you did before’.”
Israeli strikes
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday reported new Israeli strikes near Damascus, after 60 strikes across Syria on Saturday.
The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, reported attacks on Syrian army tunnels and arms depots in the Damir area.
