Syrian rebels seek to consolidate control

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The rebel force that toppled Bashar al-Assad sought to consolidate its control of Syria on Monday, amid fears the change of regime in Damascus could fuel regional instability.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a one-time al-Qaeda affiliate, issued a general amnesty for conscripted members of the Assad military, as state bodies ordered a resumption of public services and activity in the economically vital oil sector.

“Let us be one hand in building the new Syria,” said the public works ministry, which like other government departments has now adopted the flag bearing three stars long used by the rebels.

Prime Minister Mohamad Ghazi al-Jalali, who held office under Assad, said his government team was seeking a smooth and brief transition of power, adding that most of his ministers were in their offices.

HTS released a video on Monday showing Jalali meeting its leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. They were accompanied by Mohamed al-Bashir, the head of HTS’s de facto government in Idlib province, who is a possible candidate for interim prime minister.

The ministry of oil and mineral resources said the military operations department of HTS, which led disparate rebel factions to overthrow the Assad dynasty on Sunday, now provided “the necessary protection” for workers to return to oil facilities.

But Adam Abdelmoula, UN co-ordinator for Syria, also told the Associated Press that the public sector had “just come to a complete and abrupt halt”.

The health ministry called for workers in both the private and public sectors to return to work, even during the curfew now in effect between 4pm and 5am in Damascus.

An official said public transport would resume in the city at 8am on Tuesday, but all flights to and from Damascus and Aleppo airports remain suspended, while some border posts are unstaffed.

Crowds of people gathered at the notorious Saydnaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus on Monday, in an attempt to track down long disappeared loved ones.

The hope among Syrians is there will be a relatively smooth transition after more than half a century of Assad family rule and almost 14 years of civil war in the strategically vital country.

But the Middle East is still haunted by the chaos that followed regime change in countries such as Libya and Iraq, where Saddam Hussein’s army was disbanded.

A range of countries — both opponents and supporters of Assad — have expressed concern the regime’s fall could lead to further instability in the shattered Arab state, which is home to many armed factions, and in the region.

On Monday night at least four large blasts were heard in Damascus, which followed air strikes earlier in the day and over the weekend.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar said his country was hitting suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria in an effort to destroy Assad regime capabilities before they fell into rebel hands.

Germany, Austria, Finland, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK all said on Monday they were suspending their processing of asylum claims from Syrians.

While HTS is listed as a terrorist movement by the US, the EU, the UK and Turkey, Geir Pedersen, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, told the Financial Times that international powers seeking a peaceful transition in the country would have to consider lifting the designation.

US state department spokesperson Matt Miller, asked about possible contact with HTS, said: “We do have the ability to engage with organisations that have been designated . . . We always want to see groups that we have sanctioned take a different path going forward.”

Amid the upheaval, the US has carried out dozens of strikes against Isis targets in Syria, while Turkey-backed Syrian fighters have battled Kurdish forces in the north of the country.

Russia, which maintains naval and air bases in Syria and has given asylum to Assad, said it was “doing everything it can to get in touch” with the country’s new rulers and secure the sites’ security.

Israel said it was continuing to seize “high ground” inside Syria, moving tanks and infantry into and beyond a previously demilitarised buffer zone.

The push was condemned “in the strongest possible terms” by Egypt, which said it amounted to the “occupation of Syrian land” and a “severe breach” of a 1974 armistice deal. Qatar added that “a fait accompli . . . will lead the region to further violence and tension”.

Israeli commandos have also seized a strategic Syrian military position at the highest point on the Golan Heights, known as Jabal al-Shaykh.

The country has occupied most of the Golan Heights since capturing it from Syria during the six-day war in 1967 and annexing it in 1981, though its claim over the land is not recognised internationally.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on a border visit on Sunday that the 1974 agreement had “collapsed” after Syrian army units abandoned their positions, with Israel’s forces taking them over “to ensure no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel”.

Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington