Bombay Durpun - UN calls for 'free and fair' elections in Syria

Assad fled Syria following a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), more than 13 years after his crackdown on democracy protests precipitated one of the deadliest wars of the century.

He left behind a country scarred by decades of torture, disappearances and summary executions, and the collapse of his rule on December 8 stunned the world and sparked celebrations around Syria and beyond.

Years of civil war have also left the country heavily dependent on aid, deeply fragmented, and desperate for justice and peace.

Addressing reporters in Damascus, UN special envoy Geir Pedersen said "there is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria".

"A new Syria that... will adopt a new constitution... and that we will have free and fair elections when that time comes, after a transitional period," he said.

Calling for immediate humanitarian assistance, he also said he hoped to see an end to international sanctions levied against Syria over Assad's abuses.

Pedersen said a key challenge was the situation in Kurdish-held areas in Syria's northeast, amid fears of a major escalation between the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkey-backed groups.

Turkey accuses the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants at home, whom both Washington and Ankara consider a "terrorist" group.

The United States said Tuesday it had brokered an extension to a fragile ceasefire in the flashpoint town of Manbij and was seeking a broader understanding with Turkey.

"I'm very pleased that the truce has been renewed and that it seems to be holding, but hopefully we will see a political solution to that issue," Pedersen said.

- 'We want to know' -

Rooted in Syria's branch of Al-Qaeda and proscribed as a terrorist organisation by several Western governments, HTS has sought to moderate its rhetoric by assuring protection for the country's many religious and ethnic minorities.

It has appointed a transitional leadership that will run the country until March 1.

HTS military chief Murhaf Abu Qasra said Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the country's new leadership, adding that the group rejects federalism.

"Syria will not be divided," he told AFP, adding that "the Kurdish people are one of the components of the Syrian people."

He said HTS would be "among the first" factions to dissolve its armed wing and integrate into the armed forces, after the leader of the group ordered the disbanding of rebel organisations.

"All military units must be integrated into this institution," Abu Qasra said.

HTS has also vowed justice for the crimes committed under Assad's rule, including the disappearance of tens of thousands of people into the complex web of detention centres and prisons that was used for decades to silence dissent.

"We want to know where our children are, our brothers," said 55-year-old Ziad Alaywi, standing by a ditch near the town of Najha, southeast of Damascus.

It is one of the locations where Syrians believe the bodies of prisoners tortured to death were buried -- acts that international organisations say could constitute crimes against humanity.

"Were they killed? Are they buried here?" he asked.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, more than 100,000 people died or were killed in custody from 2011.

- 'Direct engagement' -

The country's new rulers have sought to keep its institutions going and, on Wednesday, a commercial flight took off from Damascus airport to Aleppo, the first since Assad was toppled and fled to Russia.

They have also stepped up engagement with countries that had long seen Assad as a pariah, and with international institutions.

EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen said the bloc would intensify its "direct engagement" with the new administration.

Britain, France and Germany have sent delegations to Damascus, while Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Rome was "ready to engage with the new Syrian leadership", but urged "maximum caution".

Members of the UN Security Council, which includes Assad ally Russia as well as the United States, called on Tuesday for an "inclusive and Syrian-led" political process.

"This political process should meet the legitimate aspirations of all Syrians, protect all of them and enable them to peacefully, independently and democratically determine their own futures," a statement said.

It also "underlined the need for Syria and its neighbours to mutually refrain from any action... that could undermine each other's security".

Israeli troops also occupied strategic positions in a UN-patrolled buffer zone in a move UN chief Antonio Guterres described as a breach of a 1974 armistice.

G.Luthra--BD