US ESTABLISHES FIRST CONTACT WITH SYRIAN BELLS

The US Secretary of State had his first contact with Syrian rebels of HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) earlier this week, who according to Antony Blinken gave guarantees that they will not accept the inclusion of Arab terrorist groups in their movement and maintain their commitment to form a provisional government that “respects international laws and human rights”.

Blinken added that in Syria “they must move from words to actions” and added that for the moment the United States and other Western countries are not going to recognize the executive formed at the request of the rebel leader, Mohamed Al-Juliani, because they maintain that HTS is an international terrorist group.

After 13 years of war, an offensive by Syrian opposition groups ousted Bashar al-Assad as Syria’s president in just 11 days.

Israel has taken advantage of the fall of Basir al-Assad to announce that its forces in the Golan Heights will advance 100 km from the “buffer zone” to increase Israel’s protection. Instead of withdrawing, the Israeli army will increase the distance from the border with Syria, on the Golan Heights, by another 100 km. A decision that will undoubtedly be criticized by the rebels.

Although the Syrian army’s actions were characterized by committing major war crimes against the Syrian people, the United States is cautiously moving forward on the possibility of establishing a legal form of contact with the HTS, which is supported by Qatar and Turkey, who have been operating behind Syrian military lines to support the rebels in taking power in Damascus and to overthrow the Assad clan, supported in Moku with the Putin agreement.

But what will happen regarding the future of the naval base in Tartous, in the hands of Russia, and the air base in Khmeimim? Putin has no intention of abandoning them and is even considering reinforcing them in order to continue having a military force in the Middle East. The arrival of Russian forces in the Mediterranean is a fact that Moscow has no intention of withdrawing from even if Bashir El Assad, its ally, has lost power.

The United States, according to Blinken, has no illusions about the possibility of the HTS becoming a democratic movement. There are so many jihadist forces within it that this possibility is doomed to failure. On the other hand, the case of Syria is different from that of Afghanistan and the Western powers are not going to abandon the area, which has a great strategic dimension in the region.

The US also shared the principles expected of a new Syrian government, including that the rights of all Syrians should be respected, that the country must not become a base for terrorism, that humanitarian aid must be delivered, and that chemical weapons stockpiles should be secured and safely destroyed.