New Syria PM calls for 'stability and calm'

Syria's new transitional prime minister on Tuesday said it was time for "stability and calm" in the country, two days after long-time president Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebels in a lightning offensive.

The rebels appointed Mohammad al-Bashir as the transitional head of government to run the country until March 1, a statement said.

"Now it is time for this people to enjoy stability and calm," Bashir told Qatar's Al Jazeera television in his first interview since being appointed.

Assad fled Syria as an Islamist-led opposition alliance swept into the capital Damascus over the weekend, bringing to end five decades of brutal rule by his clan. A senior official told US broadcaster NBC that the ousted Syrian leader was now in Moscow.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the Islamist leader who headed the rebel offensive, had previously announced talks on a transfer of power and vowed to pursue former senior officials responsible for torture and war crimes.

On Tuesday, he sought to allay fears over how Syria would be ruled, telling British broadcaster Sky News the country was "exhausted" by war and would not be heading back into one.

"Syria will be rebuilt... The country is moving towards development and reconstruction. It's going towards stability," he said.

"People are exhausted from war. So the country isn't ready for another one, and it's not going to get into another one."

His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, is rooted in Syria's Al-Qaeda branch and is proscribed by many Western governments as a terrorist organisation, though it has sought to moderate its image.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all nations to support an "inclusive" political process in Syria, saying the United States would eventually recognise a government if it meets such standards.

- 'Unity, inclusiveness' -

Blinken said the future government of Syria should be "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian".

Laying out US priorities, Blinken said the new government must "uphold clear commitments to fully respect the rights of minorities" and allow the flow of humanitarian assistance.

The United States wanted the next government to "prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorism", he added.

Although they no longer hold any territory in Syria, the jihadists of the Islamic State group remain active.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said IS fighters killed 54 government troops after capturing them as they fled across the vast Syrian desert.

The UN envoy for Syria said the groups that forced Assad to flee must transform their "good messages" into actions on the ground.

"They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness," Geir Pedersen said.

"What we need not to see is... that this is not followed up in practice in the days and the weeks ahead of us," he added.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned of the risks of sectarian violence and a resurgence of extremism. "We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan," she said.

Syria's nearly 14-year civil war killed 500,000 people and forced half the country to flee their homes, millions of them finding refuge abroad.

- Thousands missing -

The fall of Assad has sparked a frantic search by families of the tens of thousands of people held in his security services' jails and detention centres.

As they advanced towards Damascus, the rebels released thousands of detainees, but many more remain missing.

Syria's White Helmet rescuers on Tuesday called on Russia to pressure Assad into providing maps of secret jails and lists of detainees as they race against time to release prisoners.

A large crowd gathered Monday outside Saydnaya jail, synonymous with the worst atrocities of Assad's rule, to search for relatives, many of whom had spent years in captivity, AFP correspondents reported.

"I'm looking for my brother, who has been missing since 2013. We've looked everywhere for him, we think he's here, in Saydnaya," said 52-year-old Umm Walid.

Crowds of freed prisoners wandered the streets of Damascus, many maimed by torture, weakened by illness and emaciated by hunger.

The United Nations said whoever ended up in power in Syria must hold Assad and his lieutenants to account.

UN investigators who for years have been gathering evidence of horrific crimes called Assad's ouster a "game-changer" because they will now be able to access "the crime scene".

Jolani, who now uses his real name Ahmed al-Sharaa, vowed on Tuesday: "We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people."

- Strikes -

While Syrians were celebrating Assad's ouster, the Israeli military said it had conducted hundreds of strikes on Syria over the past two days.

Pedersen, the UN special envoy, called on Israel to stop.

"We are continuing to see Israeli movements and bombardments into Syrian territory. This needs to stop," he said.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syria's new rulers that he would respond "forcefully" if they allow "Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or permits the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah".

Lebanon's Hezbollah meanwhile said it hoped that Syria's new rulers would "take a firm stand against Israeli occupation, while preventing foreign interference in its affairs".

The Britain-based Observatory said Israeli strikes had "destroyed the most important military sites in Syria".

The monitor said the strikes targeted weapons depots, naval vessels and a research centre that Western governments suspected of having links to chemical weapons production.

Israel, which borders Syria, also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

The UN official in New York told AFP late Tuesday that Israeli forces were occupying seven locations in the buffer zone.

Israel backer the United States said the incursion must be "temporary", after the United Nations said Israel was violating the 1974 armistice.

The Israeli defence minister said the military had orders to "establish a sterile defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence."

Fighting also continued in the north of the country, where battles between Turkish-backed and Kurdish-led forces left 218 people dead over the last three days, according to the Observatory.

Israeli attacks destroy Syrian navy fleet

The hulks of half-submerged Syrian missile ships smouldered in Latakia harbour on Tuesday, hours after Israel hammered its neighbour with strikes from the sea and air.

The Israeli strikes came a day after Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was ousted from power and were among more than 300 raids across Syria in recent days, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Observatory reported that overnight Monday, "Israeli warplanes" had damaged about 10 navy ships and hit additional military targets, including "the Barzeh scientific research centre" and army warehouses in and around Latakia's port.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the navy struck Latakia with missile ships.

Western countries, including the United States, struck the Latakia research facility in 2018, saying it was related to Syria's "chemical weapons infrastructure".

On Tuesday morning, an AFP journalist at the scene described the three blocks of buildings that made up the centre as destroyed, with hundreds of documents scattered around, fires still burning at the facility and the strong smell of explosives lingering in the air.

At the port, a plume of dark grey smoke rose above at least three Soviet-era warships equipped with machine guns and missile launchers that had been part of the Syrian navy.

A port worker described hearing "strange and unusual sounds" through the night, and said he later found out about the strikes from his colleagues and social media networks.

"We asked around about what was happening, no one knew. There was no electricity, but we found out through Facebook that these were Israeli air strikes targeting the port," Samir Alloush said.

Another worker, Ahmed Khabbazi, also said he "heard the sounds of the air strikes".

"This morning, we went down and saw that the Israeli army had struck the former regime's military boats," he said.

- Netanyahu warns new rulers -

The region of Latakia is the heartland of Assad's minority Alawite community, but after the rebel takeover, people toppled a statue of the deposed president's father.

Visiting one of Israel’s key naval bases in Haifa on Tuesday, Katz confirmed the military had hit several Syrian naval vessels in overnight "extensive operational activities".

He said the operation had been carried by the Israeli navy using "missile ships."

"The navy operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet with great success," Katz said in a statement.

He said the military "has been operating in Syria in recent days to strike and destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel."

"I warn here the leaders of the rebels in Syria: anyone who follows Assad's path will end up like Assad -- we will not allow an extreme Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel beyond its border, putting its citizens at risk."

Katz said that together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he had instructed the military to "establish a sterile defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence."

Later on Tuesday, Netanyahu warned the new rulers in Syria against following in the footsteps of the previous regime and allowing Iran to "re-establish" itself in the country.

"If this regime allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria, or permits the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or if it attacks us -- we will respond forcefully, and we will exact a heavy price", Netanyahu said in a video statement.

"What happened to the previous regime will happen to this one."

218 killed in clashes

Fighting between Turkish-backed and Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria has left 218 people dead in just three days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported on Tuesday.

The British-based monitor said that at least "218 members of pro-Kurdish forces and pro-Ankara factions were killed during three days of fighting in and around Manbij" where Turkish-backed factions launched an offensive.