HTS

Qatar Announces Embassy in Syria Will Reopen on Tuesday

Qatar's embassy to Syria is to resume operations on Tuesday, the Gulf emirate announced on Sunday as its diplomats visited the country and met with its transitional government following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. "Qatar announces the resumption of the work of its embassy in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic starting the day after ...

Syrians Return to Ruined Homes in City That Became Hezbollah Hub

Residents of Qusayr in central Syria are finally returning home after the departure of Hezbollah fighters, who helped Bashar al-Assad's forces seize the city a decade ago and left with his fall. Many of the houses are now in ruins, after years under the control of the Lebanese armed group, a key Assad ally which had set up a military base and ...

UK in ‘Diplomatic Contact’ with Syrian Rebels Says Foreign Secretary

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed that the British government has had “diplomatic contact” with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Syrian rebel group that played a key role in toppling the Assad regime. While Lammy emphasized that HTS remains a proscribed terrorist organization, he noted that diplomatic contact is still possible. ...

Un Envoy Urges Justice, Not Revenge in Syria

"We need to see justice and accountability for crimes, and it must go through a credible justice system. We must ensure that no acts of revenge take place," Geir Pedersen said upon his arrival in Damascus. Assad fled Syria last weekend following an 11-day rebel offensive led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), marking the ...

Syria: From Euphoria to Growing Concern

The fall of Bashar al-Assad took everyone by surprise, almost no one saw it coming. Yet, it was met with joy. Scenes of celebration across Syria, as well as in countries hosting millions of Syrian nationals and refugees, along with the shared joy of other populations — notably in Lebanon — reflect the harsh rule that the Assad dynasty had ...

Syrian Pubs Cautiously Reopen After Islamist Victory

The citizens of Damascus largely celebrated the fall of Bashar al-Assad's hated regime with joy, after 13 long years of brutal civil war. But the city's drinking holes did have one concern. The rebel army that overthrew the former leader was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group which some drinkers feared would forbid the sale of ...

US Says in Contact With New Syria Rulers

The United States has made contact with Syria's victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday, despite previously designating the group as terrorists. Blinken's comments, after talks on Syria in Jordan, came as Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after the Islamist-led rebels toppled ...

Turkey Reopens Embassy in Syria as Diplomats Gather for Talks

Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus on Saturday, nearly a week after president Bashar al-Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria's civil war. The move came as Middle Eastern and Western diplomats were meeting in Jordan for high-level talks on Syria, and a day after ...

Arab FMs Urge Support for Inclusive, 'Peaceful' Syria Transition

Top diplomats from eight Arab countries, meeting in Jordan on Saturday, called for a peaceful transition in Syria with UN and Arab League support following Bashar al-Assad's ouster. In a final statement after the talks in the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba, foreign ministers from Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab ...

Syrian Rebels Took a Year to Plan Assad's Ouster

Syria's Islamist-led rebel alliance had been planning the surprise ouster of President Basher al-Assad for a year, an opposition military leader told the Guardian in an interview published Friday. The Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist group, which says it has moved away from its roots in Al-Qaeda, has long-controlled a part of northwest ...

Qatar Delegation to Visit Syria Sunday

A delegation from Qatar is due to visit Syria on Sunday for meetings with officials in its transitional government following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, a Qatari diplomat told AFP Friday. "The first Qatari delegation visit to Syria is expected to happen Sunday where they will take the necessary steps to reopen the embassy and ...

Loyal no more: Syrians Turn from Once-Omnipotent Baath Party

Maher Semsmieh turned in his rifle on Thursday at an office of Syria's Baath party, more than 60 years after its oppressive rule in Syria began, and days after it ended. "We are no longer Baathists," Semsmieh, 43, said with a smile of relief, four days after Islamist-led rebels toppled the Baathist government of president Bashar al-Assad. "We ...