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00:00turned to Syria where a flurry of diplomats have been pouring into the country to meet with rebels
00:05who took over Damascus just over a week ago. German and French officials are due to meet
00:10with representatives of Syria's new governing authorities. That's after British diplomats met
00:15HCS's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday. Al-Sharaa has also been speaking to a group of foreign
00:22journalists. France 24's Waseem Nassar was one of just nine journalists to get the chance to
00:28interview the leader. Well let's cross over to Aleppo now to speak with him. He's standing by
00:33there for us. Waseem it's good to talk to you. So tell us what's the HCS's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa
00:40had to say? Well one of the most important issues he addressed is lifting the sanctions
00:50over Syria that were imposed on Syria under the rule of Assad and he said that actually the
00:56torture of the Syrian people meaning Assad has left but the sanctions are still implemented and
01:02it's a big weight for Syrians and it is an obstacle for reconstruction. That's one
01:09important issue he addressed. Another issue he addressed was about his will to have peaceful
01:16relations with all neighboring countries including Israel and calling the international community to
01:21ask Israel to stop bombing Syria and he said that Syria won't be the stage of any plots or
01:27any attacks against any countries in any country neighboring country or otherwise in the world
01:34because we as we know they still have the issue of foreign fighters which he addressed too and he
01:39said that a very small number of foreign fighters are still active in Syria. They are under the
01:44command and the control of HCS and they have no will or no ability to constitute a threat to their
01:53maybe home to their home countries and he said too that in any country where people stay like 12 years
02:00where they marry and in Syria they fought to liberate Syria well they should be honored and
02:05also they might be granted some special statutes and that would be addressed in a law in a new law
02:12that will be voted or implemented by the new power in Syria. Wasim, it's extraordinary that you got the
02:20chance to speak to HCS's leader there. I want to get your thoughts on another line that we received
02:26just a few minutes ago saying that Syria's ex-rebel military chief now wants to dissolve
02:31the armed wing. What will that mean for the situation on the ground?
02:35Well it means actually that it's a big challenge and it's a very good question because it's one of
02:40the biggest challenges that he has because even though he controls HCS and its military wing he
02:45still has to make some concessions or make some deals with other factions meaning the factions
02:52active in the north, rebel factions and other factions in the south but not only. Also opposition
02:59actors either abroad or inside so he called for dissolving all those organizations and groups
03:05and asked Syrians abroad and inside Syria to work again to build Syria and this is a big challenge
03:11for him because here military force isn't a solution, he has to do politics even though he
03:18did politics and his success to achieve what he achieved and to get to Damascus was also because
03:25of the politics he conducted on the local level meaning addressing minorities, addressing the
03:29Kurds, addressing the Druze minority who fought along him, they were the first to enter Damascus
03:35for example. So it's still a long run for him and he's going to be building something from scratch
03:42and as he said like they inherited a Syria which is destroyed on all levels, economically, the
03:50administration, the army, everything. So everything has to be done again and one important issue he
03:55addressed too, he said that he's going to reform the army as a whole, making it meaning a professional
04:03army with volunteers, people who want to be part of this army and not just only people who are
04:08forced to be part of the armed forces as under Assad rule. Waseem, great to get your insight,
04:15thanks so much for joining us on the programme, Waseem Nasser there,
04:18reporting there from Aleppo in Syria. Let's turn our focus to