Syria's anti-regime groups have reached an agreement on their dissolution and integration into the country's regular defense forces, the new authorities in Damascus announced Tuesday.
"A meeting of the heads of the groups" with new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa "ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense," said a statement carried by state media agency SANA and the authorities' Telegram account.
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 Assad's army.
Al-Sharaa meanwhile faces the daunting task of trying to avoid clashes between the myriad groups.
The country's new rulers appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the alliance that toppled Bashar Assad, as defense minister in the interim government.
Syria has a diverse ethnic and religious minority population many of who have held fears for their safety.
However, al-Sharaa has assured Western and other foreign diplomats that the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which he heads, will neither seek revenge against the former regime and ensure the safety of any religious minority.
Syrian anti-regime forces seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family's decadeslong tyrannical rule.
