The de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has said the country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbours or to the West.
In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, he called for sanctions on Syria to be lifted.
Sharaa said HTS was not a terrorist group.
They did not target civilians or civilian areas, he said. In fact, they considered themselves to be victim of the crimes of the Assad regime. The victims, he said, should not be treated the same way as the oppressors.
He denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.
Sharaa said the countries were very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he said, there was a different mindset. He said he believed in education for women.
Sharaa was relaxed throughout the interview, wearing civilian clothes, and tried to offer reassurance to all those who believe his group has not broken with its extremist past.
Many Syrians do not believe him.
The actions of Syria’s new rulers in the next few months will indicate the kind of country they want Syria to be – and the way they want to rule it.
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