Syrian HTS leader says rebel factions that overthrew Assad will be ‘disbanded’
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HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says fighters will all be ‘subject to the law’ as he sought to emphasise need for unity in post-war Syria. Syria’s rebel factions will be “disbanded”, the head of the group that led the ousting of Bashar al-Assad has pledged, as he seeks to reassure minorities at home and abroad that the country’s interim leaders will protect all Syrians, as well as state institutions.
![[Expatriate Syrians gather with flags in Berlin to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b3b090bf54345fef326fc8e9f5a138febab9b1fe/0_182_5452_3272/master/5452.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, said all rebel factions would “be disbanded and the fighters trained to join the ranks of the defence ministry” during a meeting with members of the Druze community.
“All will be subject to the law,” he added, according to posts on the group’s Telegram channel. He also emphasised the need for unity in the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional country. “Syria must remain united,” he said. “There must be a social contract between the state and all religions to guarantee social justice”.
In a separate meeting with a British delegation, Sharaa, who was formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, also said that international sanctions against Damascus must be lifted if refugees displaced by the war are to return. He spoke “of the importance of restoring relations” with London, and stressed “the importance of ending all sanctions imposed on Syria so that displaced Syrians … can return to their country”, according to remarks reported on his group’s Telegram channel on Monday.
