Jolani Unveils New Government For Syria, White Helmets Leader Appointed Minister

Via The Cradle

Syria’s self-declared interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced the formation of the country’s new transitional government late on Saturday. ”The formation of a new government today is a declaration of our joint will to build a new state,” Sharaa said during a speech marking the formation. 

Several of his top officials have retained their posts, including Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra. Anas Hassan Khattab, who served as intelligence director after the fall of the former government of Bashar al-Assad, was appointed as Minister of Interior. 

All three were members of Sharaa’s extremist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) organization, the former branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria (when it was known as the Nusra Front), which has been officially dissolved, but retains the bulk of its fighting formation as part of the country’s new army and security apparatus. 

The formation comes as Sharaa has been under increasing western pressure lately to establish an inclusive administration, weeks after his government forces killed over 1,500 Alawite civilians in a series of bloody sectarian massacres in early March. 

Hind Qabawat, a Christian and a former member of the Riyadh-based Syrian Negotiation Commission, was appointed Minister of Social Affairs and Labor. She is the only woman in the newly appointed transitional government. 

An Alawite, Yarub Badr, was named as Transport Minister. Member of the Druze community, Amgad Badr, was appointed as Minister of Agriculture.

Mohammad Bashir, who was prime minister in the caretaker government following the fall of Assad’s government on December 8, 2024, has been made Energy Minister. There is currently no prime minister, as the temporary constitution signed by Sharaa recently states that a secretary-general will lead the government. 

Raed Saleh, leader of the White Helmets group, which now operates as the official Syrian Civil Defense, was appointed Minister of Emergency Situations and Disasters. The White Helmets worked closely with Al-Qaeda throughout the Syrian war and participated in its executions. 

Saleh previously praised US airstrikes on Syria during US President Donald Trump’s first term. Mazhar al-Wais, another former HTS and Nusra Front member, was appointed Justice Minister, replacing the controversial Shadi Mohammad al-Waisi, who was seen in videos from 2015 directing the execution of women.

Syrian Kurd Mohammad Terko was made Minister of Education. No representatives of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or the affiliated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) were appointed to the government.

Sharaa signed a temporary constitution on 13 March after receiving it from a committee of legal experts that drafted it. The president had previously claimed that drafting a constitution and holding elections in Syria would take several years.

Correction: Al Qaeda started the “White Helmets are Alqaeda” frenzy.

Here’s Abu Jaber, a top Al-Qaeda leader in Syria (now known as “HTS”), praising the White Helmets as “hidden soldiers.” https://t.co/jIE2wF6HqQ pic.twitter.com/RupNQ3qnIV

— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) December 5, 2024

Days before the temporary constitution was signed, government forces massacred well over 1,500 Alawite civilians during a violent security operation to quell an armed uprising on the Syrian coast carried out by elements of Syria’s former military.