Unlock Editor's Roundup for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Syria's rebel factions have agreed to disband and become part of the interim government's defense ministry as the new administration rushes to consolidate power within revamped institutions.
The commander-in-chief of the new government, Ahmed al-Sharaa — the former head of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who previously used his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — announced the deal on Tuesday after meeting with leaders of groups, including the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and factions in north-east and south Syria.
The government said the meeting resulted “in an agreement to disband all factions and bring them together under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defence.”
The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were absent as they clashed with Turkish-backed rebels in the northeast after an initial Washington-brokered ceasefire broke down there.
The interim government deal was reached just over two weeks after the fall of former autocratic President Bashar al-Assad following a lightning offensive by HTS-led rebels after 13 years of brutal civil war. It comes as al-Sharaa seeks to cement power over the fractured country.
He faces a difficult task. His group, HTS, has increasingly professionalized its forces through military academies and training, unlike more fractured allied rebel groups.
Security is a key issue for the new administration, which faces concerns including clashes between Turkish-backed rebels and the SDF; the threat of a resurgence of ISIS, longtime enemies of HTS that were not part of Tuesday's deal; and the potential for loyalists to the ousted regime to regroup after Assad disbanded his army before fleeing the country.
The Sharaa government is merging institutions such as police departments, the military and security forces. Over the past two weeks, it has opened applications for police jobs and “deployment centers” for former regime troops.
It is trying to maintain security across the country by deploying security and police personnel from its enclave in Idlib, a corner of northwestern Syria that has been under HTS control for years.
Security concerns grew this week, especially as unconfirmed reports spread of revenge killings in small villages and banditry on highways across the country.
On Monday, in the northwestern Christian town of al-Suqaylabiyah, a large Christmas tree on a roundabout was set on fire by unknown assailants, further raising fears among Syria's Christian minority of being targeted from hard-line Islamic groups.
Footage shared on social media showed an HTS member standing with two priests assuring the crowd in al-Suqaylabiyah that the tree would be repaired before morning.
Hundreds of people protested the act of vandalism across Syria on Tuesday. Protesters in the Bab Touma area of Damascus were seen carrying crosses and marching through the streets. Elsewhere in Damascus, people shopped at a large open-air Christmas market.
Incidents such as the burning of the Christmas tree have so far been described as isolated cases by the new leadership, which has tried to portray itself as a moderate administration for all Syrians, despite its Islamic beliefs and roots in jihadism.
But minority groups fear being marginalized and attacked, having enjoyed some degree of protection under Assad despite the widespread repression that characterized his rule.
