Syria’s newly appointed Prime Minister, Mohammed al-Bashir, has made the repatriation of Syrian refugees living abroad a top priority. In a statement to Al Jazeera, he outlined his goal to “bring back the millions of Syrian refugees who are abroad.” Al-Bashir also stressed the importance of “stability and calm” in Syria and is working with officials from Bashar al-Assad’s former regime to restore public services and institutions.
In a separate development, the tomb of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of Bashar al-Assad, was set on fire. Social media footage showed significant damage to the mausoleum, located in the family’s ancestral village of Qardaha in the western Latakia province. Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000, ruled Syria for 30 years before being succeeded by his son Bashar, who has been in power for over two decades.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the Department of Political Affairs in Damascus urged unity as Syria transitions away from the Assad government’s control. The spokesperson emphasized that “Syria needs the efforts of all its people in the coming period” and stated that “there will be no room for carrying weapons outside the state.”
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Mohammed al-Bashir, who was appointed interim Prime Minister on Tuesday, will serve until March 1, 2025. Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the Lebanese group that fought alongside Assad in the Syrian war, expressed hope that the new Syrian leadership would reject Israel’s “occupation” of their land. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned the new rulers not to allow Iran to “re-establish” itself in Syria, following a series of large-scale attacks across the country.
