Syria’s new interim prime minister has pledged to protect minority rights and bring security to the country in an interview with Al Jazeera, amid reports that the tomb of Hafez al-Assad, the father of removed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was torched in Latakia.
The tomb of Hafez, who was president from 1971 until his death in 2000, was burned in his hometown of Qardaha, located in the Latakia heartland of al-Assad’s Alawite community. Bashar al-Assad succeeded him in 2000.
Mohammed al-Bashir, the newly appointed caretaker prime minister, said the priority was to ensure that people could return to work, but pledged to bring to justice “those whose hands are stained with blood”.
“Most of the employees who worked in these institutions have returned to their jobs and resumed their work. The door remains open for all employees, except for those whose hands are stained with blood from military institutions or the shabiha,” he said, referring to Syrian fighter groups loyal to the al-Assad family.
“These individuals will be referred to courts for trial before being allowed to return to their roles in the institutions,” al-Bashir, who headed the regional government in Idlib province, added.
Syrians across the country celebrated the spectacular end to five decades of brutal rule by the al-Assad family, after a lightning offensive spearheaded by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies.
HTS remains classified as a “terrorist” group by the United States, Turkey and other governments as it waged an armed rebellion against the al-Assad regime for more than a decade.
At a G7 meeting on Friday, world leaders are expected to weigh whether to support Syria’s new transitional government and possibly lift the designation.
In a bid to assuage concerns over the inclusivity of a government led by HTS, which was part of al-Qaeda before breaking ties in 2016, al-Bashir repeatedly said the new government would protect minority rights.
The Baath party of the deposed President al-Assad announced it would suspend its work “in all its forms… until further notice” and hand over assets to the authorities.
Mohammad Nassif, a resident of Latakia, told Al Jazeera the tomb had been desecrated in an act of spite towards Hafez al-Assad and his removed son Bashar.
“We saw it burned and destroyed by the people of his village because he starved them, because they hated him, and because he destroyed us, he displaced them and displaced us,” Nassif said.
The new administration has also pledged to close the former regime’s notorious prisons, where thousands were tortured and executed.
Hlala Merei, a Palestinian refugee in Syria, said the torture and arbitrary detention inflicted by the regime on its people was unforgivable.
“Why did Bashar al-Assad do this to the people? If he had imprisoned them, tried them, we wouldn’t have said no. But to cut them up like that? It’s unjust,” he said.
The new administration has called the millions of refugees who fled the country during the civil war to return to rebuild the country.
Nearly half the country’s pre-war population was displaced and millions fled the country during the 13 years of war.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to arrive in Jordan on Thursday for a regional tour aimed at discussing an “inclusive” government transition in Syria, according to spokesman Matthew Miller.
The United Nations envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen urged an inclusive process and warned that divisions could lead to new civil strife.
At the office of the Damascus governor, Mohammed Ghazal told the Reuters news agency that the new government did not have a problem with “any ethnicity and religion … The one who made the problem was the [Assad] regime.”
Zakaria Malahifji, secretary-general of the Syrian National Movement who once served as political adviser to rebels in Aleppo, lamented the lack of consultation.
“You are bringing [ministers] from one colour, there should be participation of others,” he said of the new government. “Syrian society is diverse in terms of cultures, ethnicities, so frankly this is concerning.”
