Celebrations in Syria and the announcement of the formation of a new, transitional government continue to fuel optimism, but have not slowed international efforts to ensure that lingering tensions and hostilities do not sideline efforts to build a better future for the country.
United States (US) officials stepped up their efforts on Tuesday, focused in part on ensuring that terrorist groups such as the Islamic State are unable to use the transition period as a chance to gain new ground.
The commander of US forces in the Middle East traveled to Syria where he met with members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led, US-backed formation that has been instrumental in the fight against the remnants of the Islamic State terrorist group, known as IS. ISIS or ISIL.
US Central Command said General Michael "Eric" Kurila visited several bases in the eastern part of the country, where he received "a first-hand assessment of force protection measures, the rapidly evolving situation and ongoing efforts to prevent ISIS from attempting to take advantage of the current situation." , according to CentCom's press release.
Kurila then traveled to Iraq, where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, as well as Iraqi military commanders.
"We remain committed to the lasting defeat of ISIS and committed to the security of our partners that are Syria's neighbors — including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel," Kurila said.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also spent part of the day Tuesday on the phone with allies regarding developments in Syria.
The State Department said Blinken spoke with colleagues in Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Egypt.
The US action comes after Syrian rebels, who ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, named a transitional head of government on Tuesday to rule the country until March 1.
After a meeting in Damascus of rebel leaders and ousted officials from Assad's government, Muhammad al-Bashir, a figure little known to much of Syria who previously ran the administration in a small rebel-held northwest, said he had been chosen to lead an interim government.
The topic of the meeting was the transfer of power, Bashir said.
He stood in front of two flags: the green-black-white tricolor worn by Assad's opponents during the civil war and a white flag with the Islamic religious oath written in black letters, usually displayed by Sunni Islamist fighters in Syria.
US officials who have also been in contact with the rebels, including the main rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said they remained cautious.
"Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is using the right words, but of course we will judge them not by those words, but by their actions in the coming days, the coming weeks, the coming months," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham traces its roots to al-Qaeda's Syrian branch and is considered a terrorist organization by many Western governments, although the group has tried to tone down its rhetoric.
"We have not recognized HTS as the ruling body in Syria," Miller told reporters. "We did not recognize them as the government of Syria".
The US is not alone in its warnings to the Syrian rebels.
Geir Pedersson, the United Nations envoy for Syria, said in Geneva that the groups that forced Assad to flee must transform their "good messages" into action on the ground.
"They sent messages of unity, of inclusiveness," Pedersson said, adding that in Aleppo and Hama "we also saw... encouraging things on the ground."
But "what we shouldn't see is, of course, that good statements and what we see on the field at the beginning, that it is not washed away in practice in the days and weeks that are ahead of us".
Retribution and justice
Still, there were signs on Tuesday that many in Syria are seeking retribution or justice, or both, after decades of harsh rule under the Assad regime.
Abu Muhammad al-Golani, the HTS leader who led the offensive that forced Assad out of the country, has vowed to prosecute former senior government officials responsible for torture and war crimes.
"Rewards will be offered to those who provide information about high-ranking military and security officers involved in war crimes," Golani said in a statement.
However, in the Syrian capital, Damascus, there is a sense of normalcy with a noticeable decrease in the number of armed men on the streets. Sources close to the rebels said commanders had ordered the fighters to withdraw from the towns and to replace them with police and internal security forces linked to HTS.
Banks and shops reopened for the first time since Assad was ousted on Sunday and fled to asylum in Russia. Traffic is back on the roads, construction workers are back repairing the roundabout in downtown Damascus, and cleaners are clearing the roads.
"One of the things we have to keep in mind is that the transitional government still doesn't control the whole country," said Brian Carter, Middle East portfolio manager at the US Business Institute's Project on Key Threats.
"The reality is that on the ground, many different groups actually control the ground," he told Voice of America. "There will be a series of contests and negotiations for power over the next few months to see who will come out on top. And will that process be peaceful? I think there is a real risk."
There are also signs of the effects of other conflicts in the Middle East.
Israel has launched airstrikes against Syrian army bases, whose forces have crumbled in the face of a lightning advance by rebels who ousted Assad in the space of two weeks.
Israel sent forces across the border into the demilitarized zone inside Syria, saying its airstrikes were aimed at preventing weapons from falling into enemy hands. They denied reports that their forces had advanced beyond the separation zone into a village southwest of Damascus.
UN envoy Pedersson said on Tuesday that the world body continues to monitor Israeli movements and bombings on Syrian territory.
"This has to stop," Pedersson said.
On Tuesday, Israeli troops were on the Syrian side of the separation zone, about 25 kilometers southwest of Damascus, according to several security sources cited by Reuters and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Avichay Adrai said reports that Israeli forces were approaching Damascus were false. He said Israeli troops were located inside the separation zone and at defense points near the border.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that Israeli forces had struck suspected chemical weapons production sites as well as long-range rockets as part of efforts to prevent those weapons from ending up in the possession of hostile actors.
Saudi Arabia condemned Israel's actions in Syria, saying in a statement on Tuesday that they violate international law and "sabotage Syria's chances to restore its security, stability and territorial integrity."
Russia is "carefully monitoring the situation", Iran denies being weakened
Russia said on Wednesday that it is closely monitoring the situation in Syria and is in contact with "those who are currently controlling the situation".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized Russia's need to ensure the security of its diplomatic facilities and military bases in Syria, where Russian troops were stationed for years and supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's army in the country's civil war.
Before the advance of the rebels, Assad fled to Russia, where he was granted asylum.
Assad's fall also dealt a blow to Iran's interests in the region, cutting off a land route for the supply of weapons to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, as well as territory in which Iranian militias could operate.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday rejected the idea of a weakened Iranian network in the region, which includes support for Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, militias in Iraq and Houthi militants in Yemen.
Khamenei also said that what happened in Syria was the result of a US-Israeli plan and that a "neighboring country of Syria" played a role in Assad's ouster. He did not name which neighboring country he was referring to, but Turkey, which borders Syria, has been a major supporter of groups opposed to Assad.
As Syrians work to establish their country's future, Pope Francis said Wednesday that he hopes for a political solution that promotes "the stability and unity of the country."
"I pray... that the Syrian people can live in peace and security in their beloved country and that different religions walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of that nation affected by so many years of war," the pope said.
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