logo
New Syrian leader Sharaa says killings of Alawites threaten unity, vows justice

New Syrian leader Sharaa says killings of Alawites threaten unity, vows justice

LBCI10-03-2025

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said mass killings of members of ousted President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect were a threat to his mission to unite the country, and promised to punish those responsible, including his own allies if necessary.
In his first interview to a global news agency, held after hundreds died in four days of clashes between Alawite Muslims and Syria's new Sunni Islamist authorities, Sharaa blamed pro-Assad groups backed by foreigners for triggering the bloodshed but acknowledged that revenge killings had followed.
"Syria is a state of law. The law will take its course on all," he told Reuters from the Damascus presidential palace, where Assad resided until Sharaa's forces toppled him on December 8, forcing the ousted ruler to flee to Moscow.
"We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won't accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us," Sharaa said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Sharaa also said that his government had had no contacts with the United States since President Donald Trump had taken office. He repeated pleas for Washington to lift sanctions imposed in the Assad era.
He also held out the prospect of restoring relations with Moscow, Assad's backer throughout the war, which is trying to retain two major military bases in Syria.
He rejected criticism from Israel, which has captured territory in southern Syria since Assad was toppled. And he said he aimed to resolve differences with Kurds, including by meeting the head of a Kurdish-led group long backed by Washington.
While he blamed the outbreak of violence in recent days on a former military unit loyal to Assad's brother and an unspecified foreign power, he acknowledged that in response "many parties entered the Syrian coast and many violations occurred."
"It became an opportunity for revenge" for years of pent-up grievances, he said, although he said the situation had since been largely contained.
Sharaa said 200 members of the security forces had been killed in the unrest, while declining to say the overall death toll pending an investigation, which will be conducted by an independent committee announced on Sunday before his interview.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US envoy to Syria Barrack to visit Lebanon, report says
US envoy to Syria Barrack to visit Lebanon, report says

Nahar Net

time4 hours ago

  • Nahar Net

US envoy to Syria Barrack to visit Lebanon, report says

by Naharnet Newsdesk 10 June 2025, 13:56 U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack will soon visit Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials, local media reports said. U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus is reportedly leaving her position and her replacement has not yet been announced. In her first visit to war-hit Lebanon in February, Ortagus voiced from the presidential palace in Baabda pro-Israel statements. "We are grateful to our ally Israel for defeating Hezbollah," Ortagus said, adding that the United States has set a "red line" that Hezbollah should not be a member of Lebanon's next government. U.S. journalist Laura Loomer said in a post on X that Ortagus "will be cordially reassigned to another role in the Trump administration." "She wanted to be the Special Envoy to Syria, but the position was instead given to Tom Barrack," Loomer added.

Gaza-bound activist convoy enters Libya from Tunisia
Gaza-bound activist convoy enters Libya from Tunisia

Nahar Net

time4 hours ago

  • Nahar Net

Gaza-bound activist convoy enters Libya from Tunisia

by Naharnet Newsdesk 10 June 2025, 15:07 Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists taking part in a convoy crossed the Tunisian border on Tuesday into Libya, aiming to keep heading eastwards until they break Israel's blockade on the Palestinian territory, organizers said. This comes after Israel intercepted an aid ship attempting to breach its blockade on Gaza, which was carrying 12 people, including campaigner Greta Thunberg and European parliament member Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan. The "Soumoud" convoy, meaning "steadfastness" in Arabic, set off from Tunis on Monday morning, spokesman Ghassen Henchiri told Tunisian radio station Mosaique FM. He said it includes 14 buses and around 100 other vehicles, carrying hundreds of people. Convoy members were heard chanting "Resistance, resistance" and "To Gaza we go by the millions" in a video posted on the organizing group's official Facebook page. Henchiri also told Jawhara FM radio channel the convoy plans to remain in Libya for "three or four days at most" before crossing into Egypt and continuing on to Rafah. Organizers have said Egyptian authorities have not yet provided passage to enter the country, but Henchiri said the convoy received "reassuring" information. Organizers said the convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a "symbolic act" by breaking the blockade on the territory described by the United Nations as "the hungriest place on Earth". Algerian, Mauritanian, Moroccan and Libyan activists were also among the group, which is set to travel along the Libyan coast. After 21 months of war, Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies. The Madleen aid boat, which set sail for Gaza from Italy on June 1, was halted by Israeli forces on Monday and towed to the port of Ashdod. The 12 people on board were then transferred to Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, the foreign ministry said, adding that Thunberg had been deported. Five French activists were taken into custody after they refused to leave Israel voluntarily.

Trump's Guard deployment to LA protests puts Newsom in political predicament
Trump's Guard deployment to LA protests puts Newsom in political predicament

Ya Libnan

time6 hours ago

  • Ya Libnan

Trump's Guard deployment to LA protests puts Newsom in political predicament

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks on transnational commerce and border security while visiting the U.S.- Mexico border in San Diego, California, U.S. December 5, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo By Joseph Ax and Trevor Hunnicutt LOS ANGELES: Soon after scattered protests broke out in Los Angeles on Friday in the wake of federal immigration raids, President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke by phone. Trump never mentioned any federal response, according to Newsom, who described the conversation as 'very cordial' on MSNBC on Sunday. Twenty-four hours later, Trump ordered thousands of National Guard troops to the state, bypassing Newsom and igniting another firestorm over his aggressive efforts to deport migrants living in the U.S. illegally. For Newsom, governor of the nation's most populous state and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, Trump's gambit has created substantial political risks. Throughout Trump's first and second terms, Democratic governors have struggled to find the most effective approach to dealing with the mercurial Republican president; confronting Trump can result in backlash, but conceding ground sometimes encourages him to push harder. Newsom and Trump have often clashed in the past, with Trump calling the governor 'Newscum' and Newsom declaring after Trump's election victory that he would 'Trump-proof' California. During Trump's first months in office, however, Newsom has often opted for appeasement rather than antagonism – meeting the president on the tarmac when Trump visited during January's devastating wildfires and interviewing leading Trump acolytes such as Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon on his new podcast. But Trump's decision to send troops into California – the first time in decades that a president had done so absent a request from a governor – and his claim that Los Angeles was being 'invaded' by violent mobs appear to have convinced Newsom to abandon his conciliatory approach. 'I've always wanted to approach engagement with the president of the United States in a respectful and responsible way,' Newsom told MSNBC on Sunday. 'But there's no working with the president, there's only working for him – and I will never work for Donald Trump.'Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said Newsom was incompetent and that he should be arrested. 'I think his primary crime is running for governor because he's done such a bad job,' Trump said when asked what crime Newsom had committed. 'A DELICATE ACT' The state sued Trump on Monday , seeking to force him to rescind the Guard deployment. Meanwhile, about 700 Marines will be sent to Los Angeles until more Guard personnel can arrive, a U.S. official said. Newsom is trying to navigate choppy political waters, according to strategists from both parties. As the governor of California, a deep-blue Democratic state that Trump has gleefully caricatured at every opportunity, Newsom could struggle to appeal to swing voters as a national candidate without moderating his image. There is also the risk that angering Trump could harm Newsom's 39 million constituents; the governor is still waiting for federal funding to help rebuild after the wildfires, while the president recently threatened to cut the state's education funding after a transgender girl competed in a girls' track and field championship event. At the same time, Democratic voters want to see their leaders fight tooth-and-nail against what they see as Trump's lawlessness and corruption. 'He's serving his own ambitions as well as the state of California, and those two things don't often coincide,' said Steven Maviglio, a longtime Democratic consultant in the state. 'It's a dilemma for Newsom.' The protests allowed Trump to tout his hardline immigration policies while claiming California was helpless to stop the violence without his intervention. 'On this one, I think the president has really check-mated the governor,' Maviglio added. 'This fed right into his scenario of what California is all about…a wildly liberal state with lawlessness and immigrants and no rules.' Jon Fleischman, a Republican strategist and former executive director of the state Republican Party, said images of burning cars and protesters waving Mexican flags only served to bolster Trump's position. Newsom, he argued, had taken Trump's bait by blaming him for the escalation of violence. 'Donald Trump can't force somebody to throw a rock at a police car,' he said. Other Democratic governors have grappled with similar predicaments under Trump's administration. In April, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, also seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, visited the White House to discuss the future of a military base in her state, but was caught by surprise in the Oval Office when Trump signed executive orders targeting his political enemies. A photograph of the governor covering her face from cameras went viral. 'Balancing your state's needs and working with President Trump, if you're a Democratic governor, is always going to be a delicate act,' said Chris Meagher, a Democratic communications consultant. 'I think the more that Governor Newsom can keep his head down and do the work and show that he has the situation under control, the better off that he's going to be.' REUTERS

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store