The mid-east political landscape changed fast when Bashar al-Assadʼs regime collapsed in just 12 days ending a long-running civil war. The Syrian president ran to Moscow on sunday leaving behind a 50-year family dynasty
The rebel group HTS‚ led by Ahmed al-Sharaa (known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani)‚ took control after quick talks with ex-prime minister Mohammed Jalali; the transition planning started right away. The new setup will have Mohamed al-Bashir as its head – heʼs got experience running the north-west regions administration
We want the state and security forces to be in charge
The UN Security Council met behind-closed-doors to talk about this super-fast change. Vassily Nebenzia‚ Russiaʼs UN rep said: “Everyone was taken by surprise we have to wait and see“
The rebels are making some quick-fire changes:
- Starting work on finding ex-officials who hurt people
- Getting banks open again
- Making oil places work
- Talking with other countries about whats next
In a side-story Israel made a buffer-zone in south Syria which got lots of push-back from Qatar Saudi Arabia and Egypt. They said this might mess-up Syriaʼs chance to get back on its feet
The US is trying to work with the new people in charge through Turkey and other friends in the area. Oil prices went up 1% cos people think this whole thing might shake-up the region
The rebels want to show theyre ready to run things – banks and oil places will open on 12/10/24 (which is pretty quick). Al-Golani says heʼll share names of bad guys from the old government who hurt people; theres gonna be some kind of reward system for helping find them