Journal De Bruxelles - Syria leader vows state 'monopoly' on weapons at post-Assad dialogue conference

Hundreds of people are attending the conference at the presidential palace in Damascus, hastily organised by the authorities as part of the war-torn country's post-Assad transition.

The event, whose outcome is expected to be advisory rather than binding, follows calls from the international community for the new authorities to involve all components of Syrian society.

Civil society, religious communities, opposition figures and artists are represented at the national dialogue -- an initiative unheard-of under Assad.

However, officials from the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that controls swathes of the country's north and northeast criticised being shut out of the event.

Addressing the conference, Sharaa said: "Syria has invited all of you today... to consult with each other on the future of your country."

He said that "current events are the sign of a new, historic phase".

"Syria is indivisible; it is a complete whole, and its strength lies in its unity," the interim president declared, adding that "the unity of arms and their monopoly by the state is not a luxury but a duty and an obligation."

Sharaa also said authorities would "work on forming a transitional justice body to restore people's rights, ensure justice and, God willing, bring criminals to justice".

Parties in the Kurdish administration of northeast Syria slammed what they called the symbolic representation of minorities at the conference.

In a joint statement, 35 parties said: "Conferences with token representation... are meaningless, worthless, and will not contribute to finding real solutions to the country's ongoing crisis."

- 'New experience' for Syrians -

Organisers said the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration and affiliated bodies were not invited due to the exclusion of armed groups, a reference to the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Swathes of northern and northeastern Syria are controlled by the SDF, which spearheaded the fight that saw Islamic State group jihadists territorially defeated in Syria in 2019.

Kurdish administration official Hassan Mohammed Ali told AFP that the exclusion would have "negative repercussions and will not lead to solutions to the problems and crises that Syria has been suffering from for decades".

Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led the rebel alliance that toppled Assad in December, has previously said Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into Syria's national army, rejecting any Kurdish autonomy.

Organisers of the national dialogue conference announced Sunday that the event would start the following day, and some Syrians living abroad said they could not attend due to the short notice.

State news agency SANA said around 6,000 people attended online, many of them from abroad, with workshops addressing issues including freedoms and the constitution.

Houda Atassi from the conference's preparatory committee said on X that the event would "go down in history as a new experience for the Syrian people".

She expressed hope that it would be "a real beginning for a path of restoring Syria's stability and unity".

- 'Rule of law' -

Caretaker authorities have been charged with managing affairs until March 1, when a new government is set to be formed.

In his speech, Sharaa emphasised the importance of the rule of law and highlighted the interim authorities' work "pursuing those who committed crimes against Syrians".

"We must build our state on the rule of law, and the law must be respected by those who establish it," he said.

Syria's foreign policy would be based on "balance and openness", he added.

"We are keen to develop strong relations with countries that have respected our sovereignty, while keeping the door open for dialogue with any party willing to rebuild its relations with us based on mutual respect."

Sharaa's HTS has its roots in Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many governments including the United States.

But the group has sought to moderate its rhetoric and vowed to protect Syria's religious and ethnic minorities.

The HTS-led offensive that toppled Assad on December 8 ended five decades of his family's iron-fisted rule.

Sharaa said earlier this month that it could take four to five years to organise elections in Syria and two to three years to rewrite the constitution.

Syria is also without a parliament, after the Assad-era legislature was dissolved following his ouster.

T.Peeters--JdB