Sharaa vows to pursue criminals as Syria's transitional president

Syria's new president, Ahmed Shala, addressed the nation for the first time since the overthrow of former leader Bashar al-Assad, vowing to "hunt down the criminals who shed blood, committed massacres and crimes." Shala was appointed as the "transitional" president after leading a seven-week rebel offensive that toppled Assad.

Shala pledged to issue a "constitutional declaration" as the country's "legal reference" during the transition, after the old constitution was suspended. On Wednesday, according to the Sana news agency, rebel military commander Hassan Abdul Ghani announced the cancellation of Syria's 2012 constitution and the dissolution of the former regime's parliament, army, and security apparatus.

In a pre-recorded address on Thursday, Shala began by stating that he was addressing all Syrian men and women, including refugees, families of "martyrs" and the missing, and activists who had devoted themselves to the cause of a free Syria. He credited his rise to power to every Syrian who participated in the uprising and sought change, and pledged to "hunt down the criminals who shed blood, committed massacres and crimes."

He also promised to hold a "national dialogue conference" and vowed to uphold "civil peace" and the territorial integrity of Syria. This announcement followed an event held in Damascus on Wednesday, attended by commanders from various factions fighting alongside Shala's Islamist group, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), called the "Conference Announcing the Victory of the Syrian Revolution."

Shala stated that all rebel groups that fought against Assad during the 13-year civil war would be dissolved and integrated into national institutions. Ghani said that as president, Shala would form a temporary legislative council to assist in governance until a new constitution was approved. Shala indicated in an interview with Al-Araby TV in late December that new elections would take a maximum of four years to organize.

He stated that an updated census was needed first, "which takes time," and that drafting a new constitution would also take three years to complete. In the interview, Shala also reiterated his plan to hold a "national dialogue conference," which he said would "bring together all components of Syrian society."

In 2011, Assad's brutal crackdown on a peaceful pro-democracy uprising sparked a civil war that has killed more than 500,000 people and forced 12 million to flee their homes. HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, remains designated as a terrorist organization by the UN, US, EU, and UK, and had previously controlled the last rebel stronghold in northwest Syria.

Assad resigned as president and fled to Russia on December 8, after rebel forces routed his army and swept down from the north into Damascus in just 12 days. An interim government led by Mohammed Bashir, the former head of the rebel government in the northwest, has been tasked with running the country until March.

Also on Wednesday, the Syrian government called on Russia to address "past mistakes" by paying war reparations, in the first visit by a senior Kremlin delegation to Syria since the downfall of Assad, a staunch ally. According to the Sana news agency, Shala and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed "rebuilding trust with the Syrian people through concrete measures such as compensation, reconstruction and rehabilitation."

The Russian foreign ministry said its delegation expressed "strong support" for Syria's unity and readiness to assist its recovery from the civil war. The Russian military intervened in the conflict in 2015 to support Assad and has carried out tens of thousands of airstrikes in rebel-held areas. A UK-based monitoring group said these strikes and other Russian actions have killed more than 21,000 people, including 8,700 civilians.

Since the collapse of the Assad regime, Russia has been withdrawing troops and weapons from its two bases on Syria’s Mediterranean coast – the Khmeimim airbase near Latakia and the naval facility at Tartus. However, Russia is believed to be seeking to retain both bases, which give it a strategic foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Following the Russian delegation's visit to Damascus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow: "It was an important visit and the contacts are important, because it is necessary to establish and maintain a continuous dialogue with Syria." When asked about reports of the Syrian government's demand to extradite Assad and pay war reparations in return, he responded: "I will not comment on that. We will continue further dialogue with the Syrian authorities."

In the interview with Al-Araby TV, Shala noted that "there are deep strategic interests between Russia and Syria," and stated that he did not want Russia to leave "in a way that harms its relationship with our country." "All of Syria's weapons come from Russia, and many power plants are run by Russian experts," he added.