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The US and UK have confirmed they’ve made direct contact with Syria’s Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) rebels in the last few days.
HTS has now formed what it’s calling an interim government and is hoping to be removed from the UN’s list of proscribed terrorist organisations. Under the listing HTS can expect any assets it acquires to be frozen, and its leaders to be subject to travel bans.
The group claims to have abandoned its jihadist past and has been at pains to show itself as media friendly, inclusive and fair. But videos have begun emerging that will not help its quest for legitimacy.
They seem to show the summary execution of prisoners accused of being henchmen of the deposed regime. Some are dragged through the streets, while others are executed in public.
The group’s leader says HTS will hunt down Assad regime officials wherever they are.
