Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, the key figure in the uprising that ousted Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in an interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, also known by the moniker de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which led the campaign that ousted Assad from power this month. He led several military operations during the Syrian revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Shaara discussed “the shape of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
During the meeting Abu Qasra was sitting next to Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, in photos published by SANA.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be reorganized using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s forces.
Bashir, who previously led the HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not announced any plans for what happens after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command had named Assad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters the move “responds to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously headed the political department of the rebel Idlib government, the general command said.
Shaara’s group was part of al-Qaeda until it severed ties in 2016. It was confined to Idlib for years until an offensive in late November pushed into cities in western Syria and Damascus as the army melted away.
Shara has met several international envoys this week. He has said that his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he has no interest in getting involved in any new conflict.
Syrian rebels captured Damascus on December 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Shaara a terrorist in 2013, saying that al-Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s regime and establishing Islamic law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove the $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, created the largest refugee crisis in modern times, left cities bombed and reduced to rubble and economies hollowed out by global sanctions.