Syria's Prime Minister said on Monday that most cabinet ministers were back at work after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad. However, a UN official said the country's public sector had come "to a complete and abrupt halt" with some state workers reportedly failing to return to their jobs. The public sector "has just come to a complete and abrupt halt," said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula, noting, for example, that an aid flight carrying urgently needed medical supplies had been put on hold after aviation employees abandoned their jobs. "This is a country that has had one government for 53 years and then suddenly all of those who have been demonized by the public media are now in charge in the nation's capital," Abdelmoula told The Associated Press. "I think it will take a couple of days and a lot of assurance on the part of the armed groups for these people to return to work again." Syrian rebels announced that Ahmad al-Shaara, the HTS leader, met in Damascus on Monday with the outgoing Prime Minister Mohammad al-Jalai, who chaired Assad's government. Talks focused on the political transition in the country, according to the rebel coalition. The rebel alliance is led by al-Golani, a former senior Al Qaida militant who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. Britain and the US are both reportedly considering whether to remove the main anti-Assad rebel group from their lists of designated terrorist organizations. Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighboring countries – hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappearing during Assad's rule. Damascus was quiet Monday, with life slowly returning to normal, though most shops and public institutions were closed. In public squares, some people were still celebrating. Civilian traffic resumed, but there was no public transport. Long lines formed in front of bakeries and other food stores. Across swathes of Syria, families are now waiting outside prisons, security offices and courts, hoping for news of loved ones who were imprisoned or who disappeared. Just north of Damascus in the feared Saydnaya military prison, women detainees, some with their children, screamed as rebels broke locks off their cell doors. Amnesty International and other groups say dozens of people were secretly executed every week in Saydnaya, and they estimate that up to 13,000 Syrians were killed between 2011 and 2016. — Euronews
