(Reuters) – Syria’s new rulers have appointed a foreign minister, the official Syrian News Agency (SANA) said on Saturday, as they look to build international ties two weeks after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
The ruling General Command appointed Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new government told Reuters that the move is “in response to the Syrian people’s aspirations to build international relations that bring peace and stability.”
No details were initially known about Shibani.
Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa has actively engaged with foreign delegations since coming to power, including hosting the UN envoy to Syria and senior US diplomats.
Sharaa has signaled his willingness to engage in diplomatic dialogue with international envoys, saying his main focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development. He said he was not interested in getting involved in new conflicts.
The United States, other Western powers and many Syrians were happy that rebel groups led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew Assad, but it is not clear whether the Islamist group will impose strict Islamic rule or show flexibility democracy will move towards it. HTS was part of al-Qaeda until Sharaa cut ties with it in 2016.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on December 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Troops under the command of Sharaa – better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani – installed a three-month interim government that had ruled a rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013 and said al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and introducing Islamic Sharia law in Syria. U.S. officials said Friday that Washington would lift a $10 million bounty.
The war killed hundreds of thousands of people, triggered one of the largest refugee crises of modern times, reduced cities to rubble and weakened the economy through global sanctions.
