The Islamist group of rebel leader Ahmad al-Shara is consolidating its grip on Syria with the same lightning speed with which they seized the country. They are deploying police, forming an interim government and meeting with foreign envoys, raising concerns about how inclusive Syria's new rulers will be.
Since Sharia's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, as the leader of a rebel alliance, ousted Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, its bureaucrats, who until last Sunday ran an Islamist administration in a remote part of northwestern Syria, have taken over the seat of government in Damascus.
Monday's appointment of Mohamed al-Bashir, head of the HTS enclave's regional government in Idlib, as Syria's new interim prime minister highlighted the group's status as the most powerful of the armed groups that have fought to end Assad's heavy-handed rule for more than 13 years.
Although HTS was formerly part of Al Qaeda before cutting ties in 2016, the group assured tribal leaders, local officials and ordinary Syrians during the Damascus campaign that it would protect minority faiths, winning widespread approval. Reuters writes that the message made it easier for the rebels to advance, and Shara - better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani - repeated it after Assad's ouster.
In the Damascus governor's office, whose walls are lavishly decorated with marquetry and stained glass, the man who was brought in from Idlib to run the business, dismissed concerns that Syria was moving towards an Islamic form of government.
“There is no such thing as Islamic rule. At the end of the day, we are Muslims and the institutions and ministries are civilian," Mohamed Ghazal, a 36-year-old civil engineer who grew up in the United Arab Emirates and speaks near-perfect English, told Reuters.
"We have no problem with any ethnic group or religion," he added. "The problem was caused by the regime (Assad's)."
However, the manner in which HTS has moved to form a new interim government - by bringing in senior officials from Idlib - has raised concerns among some. Four opposition sources and three diplomats told Reuters they were concerned about the inclusiveness of the process so far.
Bashir has declared that he will remain in power only until March. However, HTS - still considered a terrorist group by the United States, Turkey and other governments - has yet to outline key details of the transition process, including its views on the new constitution.
In a statement to Reuters on Wednesday, Shara said he would disband the ousted regime's security forces, close its prisons and prosecute anyone involved in torturing or killing detainees.
As Syrians celebrate the fall of Assad's brutal police state, some express fears about what could come next.
"I am worried about what I see ... like the new government and the spread of Islamic flags," said 28-year-old Visam Bashir in a cafe in Damascus.
When Prime Minister Bashir took office this week, behind him were two flags - the green-black-and-white one worn by Assad's opponents during the civil war, and a white flag with the Islamic pledge of faith written in black letters, commonly used by Sunni Islamist fighters in Syria. according to Reuters.
During an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday, only the Syrian national flag was behind him.
Zakaria Malahifji, secretary general of the Syrian National Movement, who once served as a political adviser to the rebels in Aleppo, said the lack of consultation in the formation of the interim government was a misstep.
"You bring (ministers) from one color, and you should include others," he said. "Syrian society is diverse in terms of cultures, ethnic groups, so, frankly, it's worrying," he added.
Like other members of the HTS-linked Government of National Salvation in Idlib who were brought to Damascus to run state bodies, Ghazal said he had given guarantees to employees and encouraged them to return to work.
"This is a failed state. Ruins, ruins, ruins,” Gazal said.
His priorities for the next three months are the establishment of basic services and the simplification of bureaucracy. Wages, which currently average about $25 a month, will be increased in line with Salvation Government wages, where the minimum wage is $100 a month.
"Syria is a very rich country," said Ghazal, when asked how it would be financed. "The regime stole money".
Police brought in from Idlib have been regulating traffic in Damascus, trying to restore normalcy since HTS ordered the armed groups to leave the city. One police officer, who did not want to reveal his name, said they were overworked, as they had previously patrolled only in Idlib.
Although HTS is the most powerful of the factions that fought against Assad, others remain armed, especially in areas near the borders with Jordan and Turkey.
During the war, rebel factions often clashed with each other, leaving a legacy of rivalry and hostility that, as Reuters points out, is seen as one of the many risks to stability in post-Assad Syria.
HTS is advised to act wisely and carry out the transition in the right way, rather than allowing itself to be carried away by the moment and trying to completely dominate the new government
Yezid Sajig, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said HTS is "obviously trying to maintain momentum at all levels," adding that any group in their position, taking over from a fallen regime in an exhausted country, would behave largely the same way.
“There are multiple risks with HTS setting the priorities and pace for what's to come. One of them is the establishment of a new form of authoritarian rule, this time in Islamic guise," he said.
However, he assessed that the diversity of the Syrian opposition and society will make it difficult for one group to monopolize influence.
Turkey, an influential ally of the opposition, is also interested in a government that could gain international support, he added.
"We will only stay until March"
An opposition source familiar with the HTS consultations told Reuters that all sects in Syria will have representatives in the interim government. Issues to be resolved over the next three months include whether Syria should have a presidential or parliamentary system of government, the source said.
Reuters reminds that the Syrian rebellion arose out of the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, which overthrew autocrats in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, leading to turbulent and often violent periods of transition.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera" published on Wednesday, Prime Minister Bashir said: "We will only stay until March 2025."
The priorities, as he stated, are the restoration of security and the authority of the state, the return home of millions of Syrian refugees and the provision of basic services.
Asked whether the new constitution of Syria will be Islamic, he said that "those details" will be clarified during the process of drafting the constitution.
Mohamed Alaa Ghanem, a leading Syrian activist who lives in Washington and is in contact with senior opposition figures, said that HTS is advised to "act wisely and carry out the transition in the right way, rather than allow itself to be carried away by the moment and try to completely dominate the new government".
Joe Biden's administration has urged HTS not to assume automatic leadership of Syria, but to implement an inclusive process to form a transitional government, according to two US officials and a congressional aide familiar with the initial US contacts with the group.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the transition in Syria should lead to a "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian government" in accordance with Resolution 2254 of the UN Security Council.
That resolution, adopted in 2015, calls for a process led by Syria under the auspices of the UN, which should establish a non-sectarian government within six months and create a timetable for the process of drafting a new constitution. It also calls for free and fair elections.
A diplomat in Damascus said that HTS is the only faction that meets with foreign missions. "We are worried - where are all the leaders of the political opposition?" said the diplomat. "It would be an important signal if they were here and not here."
Another diplomat said that HTS has sent good messages to the public, but that the level of inclusiveness shown in recent days is worrying. According to Reuters, constitutional reform, in particular, must be an inclusive process and will represent a major test.
The diplomat cited the presence of many other factions that have not yet been disarmed or demobilized as a potentially destabilizing factor if an inclusive process is not implemented.
Joshua Landis, a Syria expert and director of the Center for Near East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said Shara "needs to establish authority quickly to prevent chaos."
"However, he must also increase administrative capacity by including technocrats and representatives of diverse communities," he added.
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