WASHINGTON DC: Following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, the Biden administration said it would fully support a transparent and inclusive transition process toward a nonsectarian government accountable to the Syrian people.
“The transition process and new government must also uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that any chemical or biological weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Tuesday.
U.S. recognition of a new government in Damascus could lead to the lifting of sanctions that have crippled the Syrian economy. It’s an incentive the Biden administration can leverage at a moment when the country’s future is deeply uncertain.
“What we want to see in terms of governance in Syria is governance that is seen as credible and legitimate, that is sustainable, that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said in an interview Tuesday with VOA. It has to be “the product of a Syrian-led process.”
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebels who toppled Assad, is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group. Its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has a $10 million bounty on his head.
“This victory, my brothers, is a new chapter in the history of the entire Islamic nation,” he said in his first speech since his fighters rapidly took control of the country.
“It is a turning point for the region,” he said, singling out Iran — a message he knows will be received well in Israel and the U.S. “He [Assad] handed Syria over to Iranian ambitions, spreading sectarianism and corruption throughout the country.”
Jolani pledged in a statement Tuesday to “hold accountable” members of Assad’s regime who were “involved in torturing the Syrian people.”
(VOA)
Comment