Militants ‘did not receive any international support to confront the Assad government,’ says HTS’ Al-Sharaa

The leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham Abu Mohammed Al-Golani. (AFP)
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Updated 12 December 2024
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Militants ‘did not receive any international support to confront the Assad government,’ says HTS’ Al-Sharaa

  • He says the weapons they fought with were manufactured locally
  • ‘The Syrian people are exhausted from years of conflict, the country will not witness another war’

DAMASCUS: The leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham confirmed on Wednesday that the militants did not receive any international support to confront former President Bashar Assad’s government.
HTS’ leader Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, now using his real name Ahmed Al-Sharaa, said that the weapons they fought the Assad government with were manufactured locally, according to Al Arabiya news channel. 
He added: “The Syrian people are exhausted from years of conflict, and the country will not witness another war.”
Those responsible for killing Syrians, and security and army officers in the former administration involved in torturing will be held accountable by the Military Operations Department, said Al-Sharaa.
He said in a statement: “We will pursue the war criminals and demand them from the countries to which they fled so that they may receive their just punishment.”
The leader confirmed that “a list containing the names of the most senior people involved will be announced.”
He added that “rewards will also be offered to anyone who provides information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes.”
Al-Sharaa said that the military leadership is “committed to tolerance for those whose hands are not stained with the blood of the Syrian people,” adding that it granted amnesty to those in compulsory service.


Iraq’s parliament delays presidential vote

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Iraq’s parliament delays presidential vote

  • Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties, who ususally put forward a candidate for president, asked to postpone the vote
  • Once elected, the president will then have 15 days to appoint a prime minister
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament postponed the election of the country’s president on Tuesday to allow Kurdish rivals time to agree on a candidate.
The parliament delayed the session, the official INA press agency reported, without saying whether a new date had been agreed.
The agency reported earlier that speaker Haibat Al-Halbussi received requests from Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), to postpone the vote to “allow both parties more time” to reach a deal.
By convention, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister, the parliament speaker is a Sunni and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.
Under a tacit agreement between the two main Kurdish parties, a PUK member holds the Iraqi presidency, while the president and regional premier of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region is selected from the KDP.
But this time the KDP named its own candidate for Iraq’s presidency: Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
Once elected, the president will then have 15 days to appoint a prime minister, expected to be former premier Nouri Al-Maliki.
On Saturday, the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite parties with varying ties to Iran that holds a parliamentary majority, endorsed Maliki.
But his nomination appeared to stoke concern in Washington.
The 75-year-old shrewd politician is Iraq’s only two-term premier (2006-2014) since the 2003 US invasion.
Seen as close to Iran, Al-Maliki left power in 2014 following heated pressure from Washington.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Sunday against a pro-Iranian government in Iraq.
An Iraqi source close to the Coordination Framework told AFP that Washington had conveyed that it “holds a negative view of previous governments led by former prime minister Maliki.”
In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests.”
Another Iraqi source confirmed the letter, adding that the Shiite alliance had still moved forward with its choice, confident that Al-Maliki could allay Washington’s concerns.
Iraq has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, with successive governments negotiating a delicate balance between the two foes.
Iraq’s new premier will be expected to address Washington’s longstanding demand that Baghdad disarm Tehran-backed factions, many of which are designated terrorist groups by the US.