Syria’s new leaders are reported to have given some foreign Islamist fighters senior official posts in the country’s armed forces.
The army is being re-organised by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – the Islamist group that is now effectively in charge of the country – following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.
While there has been no confirmation of the move by the new leadership, it is likely to raise concerns inside and outside Syria over the role radicalised foreign militants could play in the country’s future.
Several Syrian sources have deduced that out of almost 50 new military roles that have been announced, at least six have gone to foreigners.
Based on the names that have been published, they are said to include Chinese Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turkish national. All are said to have been given high-ranking positions as colonels or brigadier-generals.
The role of foreign fighters in various armed groups during the civil war stirs strong feelings in Syria.
Thousands of fighters from many different countries joined the uprising against Assad as it became an all-out armed conflict when mass protests were met with violence by the security forces.
Some formed their own groups and others provided the core of the Islamic State group, which took control of large regions in the east of Syria.
Opponents of HTS had long accused it of being largely made up of foreign jihadists – a charge Assad supporters used to try to delegitimise the group as it mounted its final, decisive offensive against the regime.
But in the years that he ran the rebel enclave in Idlib, Ahmed al-Sharaa – the leader of HTS and now Syria – had been getting rid of some of those foreign fighters in a bid to bolster his group’s credentials as a nationalist rather than overtly jihadist force.
Al-Sharaa’s message since taking power has again and again stressed the vision of a unified Syrian state, in which all communities must be respected and have a stake.
For those who are concerned that his actions might not match his words, this apparent move to formalise the positions of some prominent foreign fighters may give them further pause for thought.
The appointments appear to have been made in order to reward those fighters – whether from Syria or elsewhere – who played a significant role in the final triumph over the regime.
For the same reason, some of the remaining foreign fighters – along with their families – now seem likely to be given Syrian citizenship.
The issue is just one of many that could complicate any successful transition to a new political and social framework in Syria.
The new authorities are putting a lot of weight on a National Dialogue Conference that is being prepared to bring together representatives from all sections of society – although no date has been set.
The hope is that the conference will set in motion the process to rebuild the institutions of the broken and divided country.
BBC
