Is Syria now a threat to the West? Rebel leader opens up after toppling Bashar al-Assad's regime
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Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said the country is not a threat to the West or its neighbours. In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, al-Sharaa said sanctions, which were opposed upon the country during the Assad regime, should now be lifted.
![[Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses a crowd at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque on December 8]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/01/93297461-14208103-image-a-15_1734570207327.jpg)
He said the sanctions must be lifted because they were 'targeted at the old regime' and said the 'victim' should not be treated in the same way as 'the oppressor'. Sharaa is the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the dominant group in the rebel alliance.
![[People celebrate the collapse of 61 years of Ba'ath Party rule in Umayyad Square after armed groups opposing the Assad regime took control in Damascus]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/01/93193891-14208103-People_celebrate_the_collapse_of_61_years_of_Ba_ath_Party_rule_i-a-17_1734570268512.jpg)
He and HTS led the lightning offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad's regime less than two weeks ago. HTS started as a splinter group of al-Qaeda and is currently listed as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US, EU and UK. Sharaa now says HTS should be de-listed as a terrorist organisation and insists it was not a terrorist group.
![[Former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad this week issued his first statement since being deposed by rebel groups and fleeing to Russia]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/01/93193859-14208103-Former_Syrian_president_Bashar_al_Assad_this_week_issued_his_fir-a-16_1734570261756.jpg)
Syrian de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaking to BBC News about the takeover. Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses a crowd at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque on December 8. He said HTS did not target civilians or civilian areas and consider themselves to be victims of the Assad regime.
Sharaa denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan, saying the countries are very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society, a different mindset to Syria, he said. He said he believed in education for women and referred to the north-western province of Idlib, which has been held by rebels since 2011, where they have had 'Universities for more than eight years'.
