With the end of the extensive military operations launched by the Joint Operations Department under the name of “Deterring Aggression,” matters in Syria are moving toward creating an organizational situation that will fill the void left by the fall of the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Accordingly, a “caretaker” government headed by Muhammad al-Bashir was announced. He is the same person who held the position of head of the Salvation Government in Idlib, which emerged from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the central component in the management of military operations.
According to what sources in the caretaker government confirmed to Al Jazeera Net, the government’s top priorities currently are to control security and fuse the military factions into one structure.
The Commander-in-Chief of the new administration, Ahmed Al-Sharaa – who is the leader of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham – held a meeting with the military factions of the Syrian revolution in Damascus last Saturday, December 21, in which he discussed the form of the new military institution, and declared that these factions will be merged into one institution under the management of the Ministry. Defense in the new army.
Faction meeting
Al Jazeera Net sources confirmed that Al-Sharaa’s meeting with the military factions focused on the necessity of cooperation in order to form a Ministry of Defense, and stressed that the necessities of this stage require taking this step in order to re-establish the nucleus of the Syrian army.
One day before the meeting, the caretaker government announced the appointment of Murhaf Abu Qasra as Minister of Defense, after he served as commander of the military wing of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham for many years.
The Damascus meeting was attended by leaders of factions and groups representing northern, southern and central Syria, the most prominent of which are: Ahrar al-Sham Movement, the Levant Front, Suqur al-Sham, and military groups from Daraa Governorate, while Ahmed al-Awda, commander of the Eighth Brigade, refused to attend the meeting despite his coming to Damascus, under the pretext of the complex and lengthy procedures. The period before allowing the faction leaders to enter the meeting with Sharaa.
The information obtained by Al-Jazeera Net indicated that there is a kind of caution among the remaining factions about the possibility of Tahrir al-Sham’s tendency to “swallow everyone,” according to their belief, especially the factions and military groups hailing from Daraa Governorate, which deal with extreme caution against Sharia’s steps.
Openness to allies
Tahrir al-Sham anticipated the meeting in Damascus by taking a series of decisions indicating its desire to satisfy its traditional allies, as the new administration formed by the Tahrir al-Sham appointed Azzam al-Gharib, the leader of the Levant Front, which had approached the Tahrir al-Sham months before the “Deterring Aggression” operation, as governor of Aleppo, which is considered the economic capital. For Syria, it is at an advanced level that is almost equal in importance to the administrative capital, Damascus.
In addition, the Commission appointed the leader of the Suqour al-Sham faction, Ahmed Issa al-Sheikh, as governor of Idlib, and before that, it appointed the leader of Ahrar al-Sham, Amer al-Sheikh, to the position of governor of the Damascus countryside, and appointed Hassan Soufan – who contributed to the factions’ rapprochement with Tahrir al-Sham years ago – as deputy governor of Latakia, which overlooks the sea. The Mediterranean, and it has an important port, before it appointed Muhammad Othman, who is affiliated with the Salvation Government, as its governor.
Information indicates that these appointments came in the context of reassuring traditional allies and persuading them to interact with the proposal to merge the factions within the Ministry of Defense. They also have a security nature, as groups affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces are still deployed in some neighborhoods of Aleppo, and some militia elements are also deployed in the city. It was loyal to the previous regime, and the new governor, “Al-Gharib,” is responsible for controlling security through the military faction he leads, the majority of whose members come from the Aleppo countryside.
On the other hand, Soufan faces great challenges in Latakia, where thousands of former security and army personnel are spread across its countryside, and the Russian Hmeimim air base is also located there.
State and organization
Al Jazeera Net spoke with two leaders of the opposition armed groups deployed in Daraa and the Damascus countryside, who requested that their names not be mentioned, to seek their opinion regarding the steps taken by the new administration emanating from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. They stressed that the majority of the factions and military groups in Daraa and the Damascus countryside do not accept the implementation of what The new administration requests it, expressing their belief that Tahrir al-Sham operates according to the mentality of the organization, and has not emerged from this cloak, which does not suit the stage of state administration.
On the other hand, sources close to Tahrir al-Sham explained the position of some southern factions as being based on taking into account the interests of some regional parties that appear to be uncomfortable with the developments that took place in Syria, and are seeking to push some military groups with whom they have previous relations to obstruct the organization’s operations that are not carried out in accordance with Regional and international vision.
However, this file is expected to witness positive progress as the Commission seeks to reassure the countries of the region and the international community, which it appears to be making good strides in, especially with what emerges from the many meetings that Al-Sharaa holds with international delegations, and the overall satisfaction – sometimes cautious – that emerges from it. .