New Syrian leader says country won’t be a launchpad for attacks on Israel
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani also called for Israel to cease airstrikes
Syria’s new leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has said that he will not allow the country to be used to mount attacks against Israel.
But Jolani, who prefers to be known by his birth name Ahmed al-Shara, also said Israel must end its airstrikes in Syria and withdraw from territory it took after Bashar al-Assad fled.
Shara told The Times. “We do not want any conflict whether with Israel or anyone else and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks. The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions.”
In relation to Israeli strikes he said “justification was the presence of Hezbollah and Iranian militias” but that had now gone.
“The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions,” said Shara.
British diplomats also held talks with the leader of banned Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), after its ousting of the former dictator.
Photographs showed senior officials, including the UK’s special representative for Syria, Ann Snow, meeting HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Mohammed al-Golani, in Damascus on Monday.
The meeting followed confirmation by Foreign Secretary David Lammy that a delegation had been sent for talks with interim Syrian authorities and civil society groups after the fall of Mr Assad’s regime earlier this month.
Lammy told a press conference in London on Monday that the delegation “underlines our commitment to Syria”, adding the UK would support an “inclusive transitional political process that is Syrian-led and Syrian owned”.
HTS is currently proscribed in the UK as a terrorist organisation.
But speaking to international media Shara said:”“Syria is very important geostrategically. They should lift all restrictions, which were imposed on the flogger and the victim – the flogger is gone now. This issue is not up for negotiation.”
Meanwhile, in his first statement since he was ousted Assad said he had not planned to flee Syria as the rebels advanced, but was evacuated by Russian forces after their base came under attack.
Assad said: “At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party.”
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