DAMASCUS, Dec 11: Syria's new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.
In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a pocket of the northwest controlled by rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until Mar 1.
"Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime," he said.
"The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and institutions to caretake the government."
Bashir ran the rebel-led Salvation Government before the 12-day lightning rebel offensive swept into Damascus.
Meanwhile, Syria's new interim prime minister said he aimed to bring back millions of Syrian refugees, protect all citizens and provide basic services, but rebuilding would be difficult because the country lacked foreign currency.
"In the coffers there are only Syrian pounds worth little or nothing. One U.S. dollar buys 35,000 of our coins," Mohammed al-Bashir told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.
"We have no foreign currency and as for loans and bonds we are still collecting data. So yes, financially we are very bad," said Bashir, who ran a rebel-led administration in a pocket of northwestern Syria before the lightning offensive swept into Damascus and toppled President Bashar al-Assad.
The new administration is trying to win funds to rebuild Syria, a colossal task following a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Cities have been bombed to ruins, swathes of countryside depopulated and the economy gutted by international sanctions. Millions of refugees still live in camps after one of the biggest displacements of modern times.
US officials are warily engaging with the former rebels, although they are led by Syria's former al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
The new government must "uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbours," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. —REUTERS
