Syria civil war LIVE Updates: Rebels work to form government, restore order after Assad ouster

“The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the Islamic Republic had not been weakened following the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria,” Iranian media reported. 

“We have not been weakened and Iran’s power has not diminished,” Hossein Salami was quoted as telling members of Parliament in a closed session. 

“The overthrow of the Zionist regime (Israel) is not off the agenda,” Mr. Salami said in the session which met to discuss the latest developments in Syria. Mr. Salami said no Iranian forces remained in Syria. – Reuters

Iran has condemned Israel’s incursion into a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights on the border with Syria as a “violation” of the law.

“This aggression is a flagrant violation of the United Nations charter,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a statement published Monday night.

The Swiss government said it was suspending asylum procedures for Syrians until it can better assess the situation in the Middle Eastern country following the capture of Damascus by rebels and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s flight to Russia.

The state secretariat for migration said on Monday evening it was currently unable to conduct a thorough check on whether grounds for asylum exist for Syrians or whether carrying out a deportation order for them would be reasonable. – Reuters

An Israeli military incursion into southern Syria has reached about 25 km (16 miles) southwest of capital Damascus, two regional security sources and one Syrian security source said on Tuesday.

The Syrian security source said Israeli troops reached Qatana, which is 10 km into Syrian territory east of a demilitarized zone separating Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria. – Reuters

Syria’s Islamist rebel leader on Tuesday vowed to pursue former senior government officials responsible for torture and war crimes, a day after he began talks on the transfer of power following president Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.

“We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people,” rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, said Tuesday in a statement on Telegram.

The main rebel commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, met with Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali and Vice President Faisal Mekdad to discuss the transitional government, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

Mr. Jalali said the handover could take days to carry out.

Al Jazeera television reported the transitional authority would be headed by Mohamed al-Bashir, who has headed the Salvation Government.

The lightning overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad left Syrians, countries in the region and world powers nervous on Tuesday about what comes next as the rebel alliance took its first steps in a government transition.

With the mood in Damascus still celebratory, Assad’s prime minister, Mohammed Jalali, on Monday agreed to hand power to the rebel-led Salvation Government, an administration based in rebel-held territory in northwest Syria.

A war monitor said Tuesday that Israel had “destroyed the most important military sites in Syria” with a flurry of air strikes since the fall of president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Israel, which borders Syria, sent troops into a buffer zone on the east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights after Assad’s fall, in what Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described as a “limited and temporary step” for “security reasons”.

United Nations Security Council members will work on a statement on Syria in the coming days, U.S. and Russian diplomats said on Monday, after a closed-door meeting over the rebel seizure of the capital Damascus and ousting of President Bashar al-Assad.

“The council, I think, was more or less united on the need to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Syria, to ensure the protection of civilians, to ensure that humanitarian aid is coming to the needy population,” Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after the 15-member body met.

– Reuters

After fighting wars on multiple fronts for months, Israel is now concerned that unrest in Syria could spill over into its territory. Israel also views the end of the Assad regime as a chance to disrupt Iran’s ability to smuggle weapons through Syria to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli military over the weekend began seizing control of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the countries. It said the move was temporary and meant to secure its border.

But the incursion sparked condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land grab. Israel still controls the Golan Heights that it captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — a move not recognized by most of the international community. – AP

Syria’s Islamist rebel leader said Tuesday that the incoming authorities will announce a list of former senior officials “involved in torturing the Syrian people”.

“We will offer rewards to anyone who provides information about senior army and security officers involved in war crimes,” rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now using his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, said in a statement on Telegram. – AFP