Belgium's Foreign Minister has stated that messages from the new Syrian regime continue to be reassuring.
Hubert Cooreman, the Belgian Government’s special envoy for the Middle East, visited the Syrian capital city Damascus on 28 and 29 December. He reported his observations to interim Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Quintin on Wednesday.
According to Quintin, the messages from the country's de facto leaders are reassuring. The Assad regime was toppled by rebel forces led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in early December and there is uncertainty about Syria's next steps.
"The country needs a complete reconstruction, including infrastructure and the basic economy," Quintin stated.
HTS is considered a terrorist group by the UN Security Council and has been attempting to strengthen its international image since it toppled Bashar Al-Assad, who led a brutal dictatorship for 24 years.
These messages indicate an openness and a willingness to include all elements of a fragmented Syrian society. "This intention is clear, and the messages are consistent," said Quintin. "Now we have to see how this will be implemented."
He praised the new leaders for their willingness to avoid dismantling all the structures of the previous regime, an approach that he says has yielded fragile results when implemented elsewhere.
Elections in four years
HTS leader Ahmed al-Chareh (formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) said elections in Syria could take up to four years to occur in a televised interview with Al Arabiya last weekend. He added that "Syria will not be a source of nuisance for anyone".
While the fall of the Assad regime has been celebrated by displaced Syrians worldwide, minority groups have sounded the alarm about how they might be treated by the new order.
One such minority are the Alawites, to which Assad belonged. On Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that an operation targeting "war criminals, fugitives, ammunition and concealed weapons" was launched against this group in the city of Homs.
Fighters affiliated with Syria's new administration march in a military parade in Damascus on 27 December 2024. Credit: Belga / AFP
"The campaign aims to track down former members of the pro-government forces and people who participated in demonstrations last week that the government saw as incitement against the new authority," SOHR director Rami Abdel Rahmane told Syrian news agency Sana.
On 25 December, thousands of Syrians took to the streets after a video emerged of an Alawite shrine being attacked.
