Syrian rebels say leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani met for the first time Monday with the outgoing prime minister following the lightning advance by rebels who ousted President Bashar Assad.
A statement posted on the rebels' Telegram channels said Golani met with Mohammed Ghazi Jalali to “coordinate a transfer of power.”
Jalali told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, “We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth.”
He said most Cabinet ministers are still working from offices in Damascus.
However, the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, told The Associated Press that some key government services had shut down as anxious state workers stayed home
The U.N. Security Council scheduled closed-door talks Monday on the situation in Syria.
Russia, which provided military assistance to Assad during the nearly 14-year Syrian civil war, requested the Security Council session to discuss the developments, including the potential implications on the U.N.’s peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights.
Many questions remained Monday about who will lead Syria and how the country will try to recover after years of war and more than five decades under the rule of the Assad family.
Israeli troops deployed Sunday to the U.N.-monitored buffer zone in the Golan Heights, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the move was necessary to protect Israelis after Syrian forces abandoned their positions. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Monday it was a “limited, temporary” step.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to grant asylum to Assad. Peskov said there were no plans for Putin to meet with Assad, and he declined to comment on Assad’s location.
Russian news agencies said Sunday that Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country hopes for a “new Syria” that has good relations with its neighbors and helps bring regional stability.
"We expect international actors, especially the United Nations, to reach out to the Syrian people and support the establishment of an inclusive administration," Fidan said in a speech to ambassadors.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said Monday that China was watching the developments in Syria and that the “future and destiny of Syria should be decided by the Syrian people.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement late Sunday that the United States will be “closely monitoring developments as they unfold and engaging with our partners in the region.”
“The United States strongly supports a peaceful transition of power to an accountable Syrian government through an inclusive Syrian-led process,” Blinken said. “During this transitional period, the Syrian people have every right to demand the preservation of state institutions, the resumption of key services, and the protection of vulnerable communities.”
Blinken said the United States will support international efforts to hold Assad and others accountable for abuses against the Syrian people and detention of civilians such as U.S. journalist Austin Tice.
After Assad’s fall, cautious optimism for jailed journalist Austin Tice in Syria
Assad was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country’s civil war, including a 2013 chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus.
More than half a million Syrians died in the war, and the conflict displaced at least half the country’s pre-war population of 22 million people.
Assad’s fall prompted crowds to gather and celebrate in Damascus and elsewhere.
Rebels opened prisons where the Assad government held thousands of people as part of its crackdown against the uprising that began in 2011 against his rule.
There was continued focus Monday on the Saydnaya prison outside of Damascus, where the White Helmets rescue organization said it deployed teams to search for potential hidden, underground cells where people may still be held.
Assad’s downfall was stunningly quick, with the rebels capturing the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Homs in a matter of days as the Syrian army ended any opposition. The rebels are led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) which has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations.
Golani is a former al-Qaida commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance.
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Syria still faces divides, with Turkey-backed opposition fighters battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State group still active in some remote areas.
Some information came from The Associated Press. Agence France-Presse and Reuters.