Egypt Daily News – Bashar Al Assad has fled the country around 10 PM last night and according two officers in the Syrian Army. The terrorist organizations turned “rebels or armed opposition under the name “Hay’t Tahrir Al Sham have taken Damascus without a fight, as the Syrian army crumbled and simply went home. A Deja-vu of the Iraqi army as the US army entered Baghdad decades ago.
There is a sense of relief, jubilation and anxiety among Syrians. The Assad dynasty had waged war on it’s own people for around five decades brutally murdering around half a million Syrian and using Russia as a guarantor for their protection stay in power.
Syrians are genuinely happy that the brutal regime of the Assad family has ended, however no one knows what to expect from their “liberators” who belonged to terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and got rebranded into Hay’t Tahrir Al Sham.
Nor does anyone in the Middle East know what to expect as well. Will Syria turn into a new Islamic State? Will what happened encourage the opposition in other country to revolt as well, as we have seen when it all started in Tunis during their 2011 uprising that spread like wildfire in other countries? We will wait and see.
Syrian Prime Minister: I hope that a new era will prevail, and I will be in the Cabinet in the morning, ready for any handover procedures
Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad al-Jalali announced that he hopes for a new era to prevail and that he will be in the Council of Ministers in the morning and ready for any extradition measure.
Al-Jalali said in his statement: “Out of concern for the public facilities of the state, which belong to all Syrians, we extend our hand to every honorable citizen who is keen on the capabilities of this country in order to preserve its capabilities, and I call on citizens not to harm public property, because in the end it is their property.”
He added: “I am here in my home, and I do not intend to leave it except in a peaceful manner, so as to ensure the continuation of public institutions and state facilities, and to create security and reassurance for citizens. I hope that everyone will think rationally and patriotically.”
He continued: “We extend our hand even to the opponents who extended their hand and affirmed that they will not attack any person belonging to this Syrian homeland, and we believe in Syria for all Syrians and that it is the country of all its people and that this country can be a normal country, a country that builds good relations with its neighbors and the world without building any alliances or regional blocs, but this is up to any leadership chosen by the Syrian people, and we are ready to cooperate with any leadership chosen by the people so that we provide them with all possible facilities and transfer all government files in a smooth and systematic manner to preserves state facilities.
First message from Muhammad Al Jawlani after entering Damascus
Muhammad Al Jawlani commander and leader of Hay’at Tahrir Al Sham and who’s real name is Ahmed Al Shara’ said that approaching public institutions in Syria is “prohibited.”
Al-Julani added that public institutions in Syria “will remain under the supervision of former Prime Minister Muhammad Ghazi al-Jalali until they are officially handed over.”
The message from the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham came after the armed factions entered Damascus at dawn on Sunday, after they made rapid progress across Syria over the past few days.. The first message after entering Damascus.
It’s worthwhile to know that Al Juwlani is a wanted terrorist by the US Justice Department which states it’s offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on Muhammad al-Jawlani, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Golani and Muhammad al-Julani. Al-Jawlani leads the al-Nusrah Front (ANF), al-Qa’ida’s (AQ) affiliate in Syria. In January 2017, ANF merged with several other hardline opposition groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). While al-Jawlani is not the leader of HTS, he remains the leader of AQ-affiliated ANF, which is at the core of HTS.
Under al-Jawlani’s leadership, ANF has carried out multiple terrorist attacks throughout Syria, often targeting civilians. In April 2015, ANF reportedly kidnapped, and later released, approximately 300 Kurdish civilians from a checkpoint in Syria. In June 2015, ANF claimed responsibility for the massacre of 20 residents in the Druze village of Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province, Syria.
In April 2013, al-Jawlani pledged allegiance to AQ and its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. In July 2016, al-Jawlani praised AQ and al-Zawahiri in an online video and claimed the ANF was changing its name to Jabhat Fath Al Sham (“Conquest of the Levant Front”).
On May 16, 2013, the U.S. Department of State designated al-Jawlani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended. As a result of this designation, among other consequences, all property and interests in property of al-Jawlani that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with al-Jawlani. In addition, it is a crime to knowingly provide, or attempt or conspire to provide, material support or resources to ANF, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
IDF tanks reportedly cross border into Syria
Israeli tanks have reportedly crossed the Syrian-Israeli border as part of prior plans to ensure a safe zone between the border of the nations.
