How Al-Sharaa can build international community’s trust

While Damascus fell with minimal casualties in December, the last few days have proven that Syria is still prone to violence.

Remnants of the Assad regime started the clashes and set up several ambushes to attack security officers. However, the civilian casualties and the reprisals that occurred point to an important fact: security in Syria is very fragile and national reconciliation is needed.

The country is at a turning point: either it will plunge into chaos or it will use the tragic events of the last week to take the path toward civil peace. When we see the reports on the massacres on the coast of Syria and the online propaganda that accompanied them, one cannot ignore the invisible hand of foreign actors. Israel and Iran have bluntly expressed animosity toward the new regime. Israel is playing on sectarianism and the minority tune to create turbulence in the nascent state.

However, foreign states can only manipulate groups through hyping up their insecurity. Hence, the best way to prevent their interference is to consolidate national cohesion through putting in place a system of governance that is inclusive. These tragic events have pressed on Damascus the need to sort out the outstanding issues with the different factions. On Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces struck a deal with Damascus. As part of the deal, the group agreed to be integrated within the government’s institutions. It emphasized the unity of the Syrian Arab Republic.

This is excellent news for Syria, but it is just the beginning. The upcoming transition will determine the face of the country for decades to come. As part of this, the Western world has an important role to play. Syria cannot transition into a united, strong and prosperous state unless sanctions are lifted. Western countries are in a strong bargaining position. They can offer to lift all sanctions in return for a new framework that ensures inclusion and justice for all factions. So far, the temporary government has been composed of President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s loyalists and his close circle. This does not inspire trust among the rest of the Syrians and the international community. Al-Sharaa needs to appoint an acceptable prime minister who can put together a government of technocrats that can garner the trust of the Syrian people and the donor community.

There was talk of him appointing the London-based Syrian businessman Ayman Asfari. However, although it was not stated by Asfari himself, the businessman refused the job as he was not granted the power he wished to form and run the government. Al-Sharaa should realize he cannot run the government the same way the Assad regime did. He cannot have a government whose sole function is to execute his orders. The government should have the power to make decisions and implement them. Syria today cannot be ruled in a centralized manner the same way it was under the Assads.

The recent tragic events happened while the country was preparing for the drafting of a constitutional declaration. Administrative decentralization is needed to ensure cohesion. So, it is important to revisit Local Administration Law 107 of 2011, which grants additional powers and responsibilities to administrative unit councils. It empowers them in various social, economic, urban and cultural fields. This should be coupled with the establishment of local councils that can conduct reconciliation on a community level. These local councils can assess the reconstruction needs of their local areas, as each community knows better than the central government what it requires to rise from the ashes of the war.

Another issue is that of transitional justice. The current government in Damascus has received a lot of criticism for being too lenient with the remnants of the regime. During an interview, Al-Sharra said that people who were abused by the Assad regime asked him about justice being served and he answered: I brought you back all of Syria. The government might think that, this way, the country turns the page and moves on.

However, the country cannot move on if people feel that justice has not been served. People will not forget about the atrocities they endured under the Assad regime. And if there is not a justice system that serves them, they will seek what they perceive as justice by their own hand. This will lead to ugly reprisals like we saw last week. Also, there is the issue of foreign fighters. They cannot be part of the army, especially as they are among the most extreme factions of the opposition. But it is unrealistic to ask Al-

Western countries can offer to lift all sanctions in return for a new framework that ensures inclusion and justice for all factions

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

Sharaa, under whom they fought for years, to kick them out or to hand them over to their home countries, where they will be killed or put in jail. Any decision of this sort would push them toward being rebels and create turbulence in the country. However, an alternative path would be to disarm them and make them undergo a rehabilitation process. They are people who have been fighters most of their lives.

The international community should work with the Syrian government and invest in vocational training. The only way to neutralize the potential harm they can do to Syrian society is for them to hold regular civilian jobs. They could work as farmers or construction workers, for example, depending on their capabilities. On the other hand, the Syrian army cannot be solely composed of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham members. This is a group of a certain ideological construct that is not representative of the entire country, which was proven with the transgressions that happened on the Syrian coast.

Al-Sharaa should call on those who defected from the army under Bashar Assad to join the new army. This would inspire the trust of the Syrian people and the international community. These are the demands the international community can ask of Al-Sharaa in return for the full removal of sanctions. However, most importantly, they need to give him guarantees that no one will oust him once he shares power. On the contrary, he should be assured that these reforms will secure his presidency.

• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.