Bashar al Assad’s cousin has said Syria’s new leaders cannot be trusted to turn away from their extremist past and unite the country.
Ribal al Assad, an exiled critic of his cousin, was scathing in his assessment of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) and claimed it was already committing killings of retribution.
Referring to HTS leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani, he told Sky News’ The World: “The guy has $10m on his head – he was a member of ISIS and then he moved to become the leader of al Qaeda in Syria.
“And they committed as much atrocities in Syria as the regime.”
He compared it to broken hopes that Afghanistan’s Taliban would reform itself, adding: “You think people who committed hundred of thousands of atrocities are going to say now we’re in power they’re going to change?
“You remember Hamas when they came into power after throwing all the PLO people from the roofs of buildings in Gaza. The same thing.”
HTS has said it has moved on and will treat all Syria’s minority groups fairly.
The group’s leader, Abu Mohammed al Jolani, told Sky News last week: “The fear was from the presence of the regime. The country is moving towards development and reconstruction. It’s going towards stability.”
The HTS leader is a former member of Islamic State of Iraq and led al Qaeda’s affiliate group in Syria before severing ties in 2016.
He remains a designated terrorist by the US, but has spent years trying to distance himself from his former ties to al Qaeda. He now claims to have renounced his past and says he embraces pluralism and tolerance.
However, Ribal al Assad claimed the group – who swept through Syria to finally oust President Assad just over a week ago – is already carrying out killings.
He said: “We don’t want to see in Syria what happened in Iran 45 years ago, where the Shah’s regime – who was a dictator – was replaced by the mullahs. And now everyone is suffering – not only in Iran, but internationally.”
President Assad fled to Moscow as he brutal regime ended
President Assad’s cousin said he left Syria aged nine.
He denied his own father was involved in perpetrating massacres and said he fell out with Bashar during the only time he ever met him – when he returned to Syria in the 1990s.
“I stood up to him. A couple of months later they tried to assassinate me at Damascus international airport,” he told Sky News.
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Alawite minority fear retribution
He also painted a picture of President Assad as power hungry and “disturbed”, saying he was in a jubilant mood at the funeral of his brother – who died in a car crash and was due to become leader before him.
“His brother had just passed away and when I was at the funeral people were carrying him,” said Ribal al Assad.
“So I thought he was really abnormal… People were carrying him and he was waving his arms like I’m next in line. This guy is disturbed to do that – he has no compassion.”
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On Monday, President Assad issued his first comments since fleeing to Russia.
The statement said he left Damascus for Russia on 8 December – “a day after the fall” of the city, adding: “At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge.
“The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.”
