DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syrian rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani – told Reuters in a statement on Wednesday that he would destroy the forces of the ousted government of Bashar al-Assad.
His forces swept through Syria in a coup that toppled 50 years of rule by the Assad family, replacing it with a three-month-old cabinet that had been ruling a rebel group in northwest Syria.
A military commander affiliated with his group, known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has already said they will grant amnesty to those who enlisted in the army.
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He will now “dismantle the forces of the previous government and close the notorious prisons,” Sharaa said in a statement shared by Reuters with his office.
Syrians have flocked to the notorious prisons where the Assad regime is believed to have held tens of thousands of prisoners, searching for their loved ones. Some were released alive, others were found among the dead and thousands more have yet to be found.
Mr. Sharaa also said that they are closely monitoring the storage areas of chemical weapons as well as collaborating with foreign organizations to protect these weapons. The group had already announced that it would not use those weapons under any circumstances.
He reiterated that he will form a government of technocrats. The current transitional government would rule until March 2025, according to his group.
(This story was published as ‘prisons,’ not ‘prison,’ in paragraph 4)
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari; Editing by Diane Craft)