HTS Leader Promises To Pursue Former Syrian Official On Charges Of Torture And War Crime

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani who now uses his real name Ahmed Al-Sharaa (second from the right) meets Syrian Prime Minister Al-Jalali who will step down. (doc. Military Operation Command)

JAKARTA - The leader of the Hayat rebel group Tahrir al-Sham or HTS, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, promised to pursue a former senior Syrian government official on charges of torture and war crimes.

Golani said the day after a meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Jalali about the transfer of power following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

"We will not hesitate to hold criminals, killers, security and military officers accountable for the torture of the Syrian people," Golani, who now uses his real name Ahmed Al-Sharaa, said in a statement on Telegram, Tuesday, December 10, quoted by AFP.

Assad fled Syria as the HTS-led mimitian alliance and opposition group stormed the capital Damascus, ending five decades of the regime he led on Sunday 8 December.

"We will offer gifts to anyone who provides information about high-ranking military and security officers involved in war crimes," he said.

He added that the new authorities in Syria will seek to repatriate officials who have fled abroad.

Syria is known to have been hit by war for more than 13 years, the government's collapse occurred in a matter of days in a flash attack led by the Golani-led HTS group.