Syrian rebel leader will dissolve the security forces

12/12/2024 6:11

Syrian rebel leader Ahmad

al-Sharaa - better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani - told

Reuters in a written statement on Wednesday that he would

dissolve the security forces of the toppled regime of Bashar

al-Assad.



His forces swept across Syria in a lightning offensive that

overthrew 50 years of Assad family rule, replacing it with a

three-month transitional government of ministers that had been

ruling a rebel enclave in Syria's northwest.



The military command affiliated with his group, which is

known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, already said they would grant an

amnesty to military conscripts.



He would now also "dissolve the security forces of the

previous regime and close the notorious prison," Sharaa said in

a statement shared exclusively with Reuters by his office.



Syrians have flocked to the infamous prisons where the

Assad regime is estimated to have held tens of thousands of

detainees, desperately looking for their loved ones. Some have

been released alive, others were identified among the dead and

thousands more have not yet been found.



Sharaa also said he was closely following up on possible

chemical weapons depots and coordinating with international

organisations to secure them. The group had already announced it

would not use those weapons under any circumstances.



He reiterated that he would form a government of

technocrats. The current transitional government is set to rule

until March 2025, according to a statement by his group.