After a trip to Beirut, Ahmed al Sharah returned to
Damascus to welcome Hakan Fidan, Turkeys foreign minister.
Syria's new strongman is in the midst of diplomatic operation
to rebuild the Syrian government.
A committee of senior military officials will be formed to
draw up a new structure for the new Syrian Army,
and the factions will begin to announce their dissolution.
We will never allow weapons outside the authority of the
state, whether they be from revolutionary factions or factions present
in the Syrian Democratic Forces zone.
Restricting the use of weapons to state authorities insinuates restricting
the Kurdish militant groups in a move to ensure a
closer relationship with Turkey.
In our talks today, we confirmed our mutual will on
this issue.
I would like to emphasise once again that there is
no place for the Kurdish militias in Syria.
To help him rebuild his alliances and his country, Ahmed
Al Shara has surrounded himself with men he can trust.
He has nominated a number of former HTS leaders to
top positions.
Mahaf al Qasr, a jihadist commander, is the new minister
of defence, and Assad al Shibani has been named minister
of foreign affairs.
Like him, most new ministers come from the Salvation Government,
a local administration created in 2017 to govern the territories
controlled by HTS.
the US still designates the group as a terrorist organization,
but is building pressure for it to transition to inclusive,
non sectarian government.
Washington hopes to lay down conditions to delisting the group,
and the move could help ease the path towards sanctions
relief that Damascus desperately needs.