DAMASCUS: A Syrian fact-finding committee investigating sectarian killings during clashes between the army and loyalists of Bashar Assad said on Tuesday that no one was above the law and it would seek the arrest and prosecution of any perpetrators.
Pressure has been growing on Syria’s Islamist-led government to investigate after reports by witnesses and a war monitor of the killing of hundreds of civilians in villages where the majority of the population are members of the ousted president’s Alawite sect.
“No one is above the law, the committee will relay all the results to the entity that launched it, the presidency, and the judiciary,” the committee’s spokesperson Yasser Farhan said in a televised press conference.
The committee was preparing lists of witnesses to interview and potential perpetrators, and would refer any suspects with sufficient evidence against them to the judiciary, Farhan added.
The UN human rights office said entire families including women and children were killed in the coastal region as part of a series of sectarian killings by the army against an insurgency by Assad loyalists.
Syria’s interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa told Reuters in an interview on Monday that he could not yet say whether forces from Syria’s defense ministry — which has incorporated former rebel factions under one structure — were involved in the sectarian killings.
Asked whether the committee would seek international help to document violations, Farhan said it was “open” to cooperation but would prefer using its own national mechanisms.
The violence began to spiral on Thursday, when the authorities said their forces in the coastal region came under attack from fighters aligned with the ousted Assad regime.
The Sunni Islamist-led government poured reinforcements into the area to crush what it described as a deadly, well-planned and premeditated assault by remnants of the Assad government.
But Sharaa acknowledged to Reuters that some armed groups had entered without prior coordination with the defense ministry.
Syrian fact-finding committee for sectarian killings says no one above the law
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Syrian fact-finding committee for sectarian killings says no one above the law
Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return
- Economy grows much faster than World Bank’s 1% estimate, fueling plans for currency’s relaunch
NEW YORK: Syria’s economy is growing much faster than the World Bank’s 1 percent estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country’s currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh has said.
Speaking via video link at a conference in New York, Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data to reflect the resurgence.
The Syrian central bank chief, who is helping guide the war-torn country’s reintegration into the global economy after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime about a year ago, described the repeal of many US sanctions against Syria as “a miracle.”
The US Treasury on Nov. 10 announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of the so-called Caesar sanctions against Syria; lifting them entirely requires approval by the US Congress.
Husrieh said that based on discussions with US lawmakers, he expects the sanctions to be repealed by the end of 2025, ending “the last episode of the sanctions.”
“Once this happens, this will give comfort to our potential correspondent banks about dealing with Syria,” he said.
Husrieh also said that Syria was working to revamp regulations aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which he said would provide further assurances to international lenders.
Syria’s central bank has recently organized workshops with banks from the US, Turkiye, Jordan and Australia to discuss due diligence in reviewing transactions, he added.
Husrieh said that Syria is preparing to launch a new currency in eight note denominations and confirmed plans to remove two zeroes from them in a bid to restore confidence in the battered pound.
“The new currency will be a signal and symbol for this financial liberation,” Husrieh said. “We are glad that we are working with Visa and Mastercard,” Husrieh said.
