Syrian ex-rebel factions agree to merge under defence ministry
Sharaa will face the daunting task of trying to avoid clashes between the myriad groups
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reached an agreement on Tuesday (24 December) with former rebel faction chiefs to dissolve all groups and consolidate them under the defence ministry, according to a statement from the new administration.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had said last week that the ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Bashar al-Assad's army.
Sharaa will face the daunting task of trying to avoid clashes between the myriad groups.
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The country's new rulers appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defence minister in the interim government.
Syria's historic ethnic and religious minorities include Muslim Kurds and Shi'ites - who feared during the civil war that any future Sunni Islamist rule would imperil their way of life - as well as Syriac, Greek and Armenian Orthodox Christians, and the Druze community.
Sharaa has told Western officials visiting him that the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group he heads, a former al Qaeda affiliate, will neither seek revenge against the former regime nor repress any religious minority.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on 8 December, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decades-long rule.
