Syrian government still functioning: Prime minister

Syria’s prime minister said the country’s government is still functioning and most cabinet ministers are still working, even after rebels entered Damascus and President Bashar Assad fled the country.

“We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,” Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali told Sky News Arabia TV.

The prime minister also said the government is working with insurgents and he is ready to meet their leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

Jalali added that food and medicine are available to Syrians.

The Associated Press noted that Jalali remained at his post after Assad left the country over the weekend and has worked to maintain an air of normalcy.

Jalali said in a video statement that the government was ready to “extend its hand” to opposition forces and work toward a transitional government.

The rebels’ victory early Sunday concluded a 10-day offensive during which fighters took control of much of government-held land and effectively ended the Assad family’s 50-year reign.

Reports indicated Assad fled the capital before fighters entered and he and his family arrived in Moscow on Sunday. They were granted asylum by Russia.

Citizens took to the streets in celebration of the momentous time in Syria’s civil war, but the uprising has raised questions about the instability in the country and region.

President Biden called Assad’s fall from power a “fundamental act of justice” but said the moment had “risk and uncertainty.”

Israel welcomed the news of Assad’s fall, since he was a key ally of Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israeli troops temporarily seized a buffer zone inside Syria that dated back to a 1974 agreement after Syrian troops withdrew from the area amid the uprising.

The Associated Press contributed.