Tue Feb 18th, 2025

Syria's rebel leader vowed to disband Islamist group HTS and call for elections after reforming the constitution

December 30th 2024 , ,
Photo: YouTube Screenshot

Ahmed al-Shara said he was seeking to establish “a lasting political framework” and expressed interest in reaching out to Iran and Russia. He said the transition could take up to four years while a new national census is completed.

Syria's Islamist leader, Ahmed al-Shara, known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, announced this Saturday the imminent dissolution of the organization he heads, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, Levant Liberation Organization), at the beginning of a transition process in the country, after the fall of the dictator Bashar al Assad, what could last up to four years and previous drafting a new constitutional framework and a new census.

In an interview with the pan-Arab network Al Arabiya, the leader of HTS, the standard-bearer of the rebel offensive that ended the Al Assad government at the beginning of the month, explained that two conditions are needed for the elections to be held: the drafting of a new Constitution and a “comprehensive census” of the population.

Al Shara understands that the The drafting of a new Magna Carta is essential to create “a lasting political framework” in the country after half a century of the Assad dynasty.

By the time this happens, HTS will have disappeared, said Al Shara, who has intention to announce the dissolution of the organization at the next National Dialogue Conference, still undated, to be held in the capital Damascus.

The Islamist leader also addressed a key point, namely the current armed conflict between pro-Turkish Syrian militias and Kurdish-Arab armed groups in the north of the country.

In this regard, Al Shara has assured that its intention is to incorporate the Kurdish militias into the country's defense organization, although he has indicated that a specific group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated by Ankara as a terrorist organization, will have no place in this future.

“We will not allow Syria to become a launching pad for PKK attacks”, Al Shara said.

Lifting of sanctions, rapprochement with Tehran and Moscow

The HTS leader also expressed his wish that the US president-elect, Donald Trump, lift the sanctions imposed on Syria during the last civil war to facilitate the transition process.

“We hope he does not follow the same policy as his predecessor”, Al Shara said about the international relations of the new Syrian administration, which expressed its interest in getting closer to Al Assad's two major allies, Iran Russia.

“I expect positive messages from Iran”, Al Shara said, before referring to Russia as a country with which Syria shares “strategic interests”.

"We would not like Russia to leave the country in a way that could undermine bilateral relations," he said.

(With information from Europe Press)
Source: INFOBAE

One thought on “Syria’s rebel leader vows to disband Islamist group HTS and call for elections after constitutional reform”
  1. That's how the Arabs are, or at least many of their leaders. Russia and Iran were their main enemies, but with a single blow they can be allies... Israel did well to take a few kilometers. More of the Golan,

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