Syrian rebels have named Mohammed al-Bashir head of transitional govt, news agency AFP reported citing local media. In a televised address, Al-Bashir announced that he will remain on the position until 1 March to lead the transition government.
“The general command has tasked us with running the transitional government until March 1,” said a statement attributed to Bashir on state television’s Telegram account, referring to him as “the new Syrian prime minister”.
The new prime minister will lead the interim government to manage the transition and “prevent the country from descending into chaos,” local reports said.
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Al-Bashir had previously served as the leader of a rebel-held area in northwestern Syria before the lightning offensive that saw Assad toppled after 24 years in power. He had governed parts of north-western Syria as part of the Syrian Salvation Government, which is a group linked to Hayat Tahrir-al Shams (HTS).
He is a trained engineer who also has a degree in Sharia law from the university in Idlib, a longtime rebel stronghold, according to a report in DW.
Before becoming prime minister of what the rebels dubbed the “Salvation Government” in January 2024, he worked for the group’s ministry responsible for development and humanitarian aid.
After the Syrian government collapsed prompting Bashar Al-Assad to flee, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani arrived in Damascus on Sunday and met with Assad’s prime minister and vice president to discuss forming a new government.
Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency’s representative for Syria has said that 16 million people in the war-torn country urgently need humanitarian aid. Gonzalo Vargas Llosa told the BBC that 8 lakh Syrians have been displaced due to recent clashes in the region. Earlier in the Syrian War, around seven million people in Syria were displaced internally and more than five million fled to neighbouring countries and beyond.
