Syria rebel leader says will announce ‘list’ of former officials wanted for torture

Syria’s Islamist rebel leader said Tuesday that the incoming authorities will announce a list of former senior officials “involved in torturing the Syrian people”.

“We will offer rewards to anyone who provides information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes,” rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, said in a statement on Telegram.

The rebel leader on Monday began discussions with the ousted government on transferring power, a day after his opposition alliance dramatically unseated president Bashar al-Assad following decades of brutal rule.

“We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” Sharaa said in the Tuesday statement, adding they “will pursue war criminals and ask for their hand over from the countries to which they fled”.

“We have affirmed our commitment to tolerance for those whose hands are not stained with the blood of the Syrian people, and we have granted amnesty to those who were in compulsory service,” he said.

Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group had been administering swathes of Idlib province and parts of neighbouring areas until November 27, when along with allied factions it launched a lightning offensive, seizing government-held territory and capturing Damascus on Sunday.

Assad fled Syria as the Islamist-led rebels swept into the capital, bringing a spectacular end to five decades of brutal rule by his clan. (BSS/AFP)