By Miracle Ogunde
Following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, Syrian rebels have appointed an interim prime minister to run the affairs of the country.
Mohammed al-Bashir, who was instrumental in bringing down al-Assad’s regime was appointed to run the country until March 1.
In a statement credited to al-Bashir on state television’s Telegram account, he said “The general command has tasked us with running the transitional government until March 1.”
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who headed the offensive that forced Assad out, had announced talks on a transfer of power and vowed to pursue former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.
His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is rooted in Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch and is proscribed by many Western governments as a terrorist organisation, though it has sought to moderate its rhetoric. Middle East nations condemn Israel’s reported operations inside Syria buffer zone
The deposed president, Assad fled Syria as an Islamist-led rebel alliance swept into the capital Damascus on Sunday, ending five decades of brutal rule by his clan.
Meanwhile, Turkey has joined some Middle Eastern nations, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in accusing Israel of exploiting the downfall of Assad to launch attacks into a buffer zone in Syria.
This accusation comes after the Israeli military acknowledged its troops are operating in Syrian territories beyond the demilitarised buffer zones between Syria and the Isreali occupied Golan Heights.
The Israeli military claimed it destroyed Syria’s military fleet and said it would set up ‘sterile defensive.
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