DAMASCUS – The main Islamist rebel leader in Syria says senior officials of the Assad regime who were involved in torturing political prisoners will be named.
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani says rewards will be offered for information about senior army and security officers involved in “war crimes”.
Meanwhile rescue workers say they have ended their search for possible detainees in secret cells or basements at Saydnaya military prison without finding anyone.
In Damascus, rebel fighters reportedly say they’ve found more than 40 bodies in a hospital morgue showing signs of torture.
Also, 5he rebel leader who helped topple Bashar al-Assad’s regime has been appointed as Syria’s interim prime minister, local media reports.
In a televised address, Mohammed al-Bashir announces he is set to stay in post until March 1, 2025 to lead the transition government.
Al-Bashir, who has been running the Idlib province, is set to lead a small cabinet to ensure public services can resume. It comes as some government agencies in the country have asked civil servants and health workers to resume duties.
As reported by the National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper, al-Bashir governed parts of north-western (namely Idlib) Syria as part of the Syrian Salvation Government, which is a group linked to Hayat Tahrir-al Shams (HTS).
Earlier, the UN’s special envoy for Syria said it was important that all groups in Syria worked together.
But Geir Pedersen added: “By and large we have seen reassuring statements from the HTS and the different armed groups”.
Although, Pedersen went on to say there remain “some issues of law and order”.
The UN Refugee Agency’s representative for Syria says 16 million people in the country urgently need humanitarian aid.
Gonzalo Vargas Llosa tells the BBC World Service’s Newsday programme that 800,000 Syrians have been displaced due to the latest fighting in the region.
Before this, seven million Syrians were displaced internally, and more than five million fled to neighbouring countries and beyond.
“There’s a situation of huge humanitarian need, and huge forced displacement,” he says.
Llosa mentions that the UNHCR’s humanitarian operations in affected areas like Homs, Hama, and Damascus are slowly resuming.
“Every space that becomes secure we immediately move into with our partners to try to fill that humanitarian void,” he adds. (BBC)
