When Syria’s new interim prime minister, Mohammad al-Bashir, chaired a Cabinet meeting in Damascus on Tuesday, hanging behind him was the flag of the country’s suddenly victorious opposition.
That path will largely depend on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel organization that led the charge into Damascus and is now stewarding Syria’s political overhaul.
Its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, said a decade ago that there would be no room for religious minorities in the Islamist Syria of which he dreamed about.
The leader of Syria's Islamist HTS group, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Sunday.
Aref Tammawi / AFP - Getty ImagesSome observers, such as Gerges, see the interim prime minister as little more than an Jolani figurehead.
Persons:
Syria’s, Mohammad al, Bashir, Assad, Muhammad Haj Kadour, Abu Mohammad al, Jolani, Ahmad al, ”, Bilal Sukkar, trepidation, Nael, ” Sukkar, Fawaz, Gerges, “, ” al, Della Sera, “ God, Aref Tammawi
Organizations:
Getty, Harvard Divinity School, London School of Economics, Islamic State, U.S, NBC News
Locations:
Damascus, Syria, Hayat Tahrir, Homs, Sunday, AFP, United States, Al Qaeda, Syrian, London, Idlib, Italian, Washington, Umayyad, Idlib province