Syrian rebel leader vows to punish anyone who tortured or killed detainees

The main commander of the rebels who toppled Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that anyone involved in the torture or killing of detainees during the ousted president's rule would be hunted down and pardons were out of the question.

"We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice," Abu Mohammed al-Golani said in a statement published on the Syrian state TV's Telegram channel.

The world is carefully watching to see if Syria's new rulers can stabilise the country after a 13-year civil war fought along sectarian and ethnic lines destroyed the country.

Syria ran one of the most oppressive police states in the Middle East during five decades of Assad family rule. Golani, whose former al Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is now the country's most powerful force, must balance demands for justice from victims with the need to prevent violence and secure international aid.

The new interim prime minister said he aimed to bring back millions of Syrian refugees, create unity and provide basic services, but rebuilding would be daunting.

"In the coffers there are only Syrian pounds worth little or nothing. One U.S. dollar buys 35,000 of our coins," Mohammed al-Bashir told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.

"We have no foreign currency and as for loans and bonds we are still collecting data. So yes, financially we are very bad," said Bashir, who ran a rebel-led administration in a pocket of northwestern Syria before the lightning offensive swept into Damascus and toppled President Bashar al-Assad.

Rebuilding Syria is a colossal task following a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Cities have been bombed to ruins, swathes of countryside depopulated and the economy gutted by international sanctions. Millions of refugees still live in camps after one of the biggest displacements of modern times.

U.S. officials are warily engaging with the former rebels, although HTS remains designated an international terrorist organisation by Washington, the United Nations, EU and others.

The new government must "uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities, facilitate the flow of humanitarian assistance to all in need, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbours," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

HTS has lately downplayed its jihadist roots. Countries hope the new authorities' behaviour will make it possible to ease wartime sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad, as well as the terrorism bans imposed on the rebels who toppled him.

Two senior U.S. congressmen, a Republican and a Democrat, wrote a letter calling for Washington to suspend some sanctions. The most punishing war-time U.S. sanctions are up for renewal this month, and the former rebels have told Reuters they are in touch with Washington about potentially easing them.

The new government has told business leaders it will adopt a free-market model and integrate into the global financial system after decades of state control, the head of the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, Bassel Hamwi, told Reuters.

HAFEZ ASSAD MAUSOLEUM TORCHED

The world will be watching closely to see whether Syria's new rulers can avert revenge attacks following a brutal civil war and decades of repression often on sectarian and ethnic lines.

In his first brief address on state TV, new interim prime minister Bashir appeared in front of two flags: the green, black and white flag flown by opponents of Assad throughout the civil war alongside a white flag with the Islamic oath of faith in black writing, typically flown by Sunni Islamist fighters.

A resident of Assad's family hometown of Qardaha said Sunni Islamist fighters had torched the mausoleum of Assad's father Hafez over the past two days, instilling fear among villagers from Assad's Alawite sect who had pledged cooperation with the new rulers.

Russia, Assad's close ally which has granted him asylum, warned about the prospect of a return of Islamic State, the jihadist group that established a violent mini-state in swathes of Syria and Iraq from 2014-2017.

For refugees, the prospect of returning home has brought a mixture of joy and grief over hardship in exile. Syrians lined up at the Turkish border on Wednesday to head home, speaking of their expectations for a better life following what was for many a decade of hardship in Turkey.

"We have no one here. We are going back to Latakia, where we have family," said Mustafa as he prepared to enter Syria with his wife and three sons at the Cilvegozu border gate in southern Turkey. Dozens more Syrians were waiting to cross.

U.S. CAUTION

U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told Reuters Washington was still working out how it will engage with the former rebels. But Washington remains cautious.

"We have seen over the years any number of militant groups who have seized power, who have promised that they would respect minorities, who have promised that they would respect religious freedom, promised that they would govern in an inclusive way, and then see them fail to meet those promises," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

The rebels' victory was a blow for Iran's "Axis of Resistance" alliance of armed groups, which also includes Lebanon's Hezbollah, groups in Iraq, Yemen's Houthis and Hamas.

In a speech reported by state media, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei struck a defiant tone: "The more pressure you exert, the stronger the resistance becomes. The more crimes you commit, the more determined it becomes. The more you fight against it, the more it expands," Khamenei said.

Assad's enemy Israel moved tanks across the border and launched airstrikes to destroy the hardware of Syria's defunct army to prevent weapons falling into hostile hands.