Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Syrian rebel factions have agreed to disband and become part of the interim government’s defense ministry as the new administration rushes to consolidate power within revamped government institutions.

The commander-in-chief of the new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa – former head of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who previously used his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – announced the agreement on Tuesday after meeting with the leaders of groups including the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and factions in the north-east and south of Syria.

The government said the meeting resulted “in an agreement to dissolve all factions and unite them under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defense”.

The Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have been absent as they clash with Turkish-backed rebels in the north-east after the collapse of an initial Washington-brokered ceasefire there.

The interim government agreement was reached just over two weeks after the fall of autocratic former president Bashar al-Assad following a lightning offensive by HTS-led rebels after 13 years of brutal civil war. This comes as al-Sharaa seeks to consolidate power in the fractured nation.

He faces a daunting task. His group, HTS, has largely professionalized its forces through military academies and training, unlike many renegade allied rebel groups.

Security is a key issue for the new administration, which faces concerns including clashes between Turkish-backed rebels and the SDF; the threat of the resurgence of Isis, long-time enemies of HTS who were not part of Tuesday’s deal; and the potential for loyalists of the ousted regime to regroup after Assad disbanded his army before fleeing the country.

Sharaa’s government has consolidated institutions such as police departments, the army and security forces. In the past two weeks, it has opened applications for police jobs and “settlement centers” for former regime troops.

It is trying to maintain security across the country by deploying security and police personnel from its enclave in Idlib, a corner of northwestern Syria that has been under HTS control for years.

Concerns about security have grown this week, especially after unconfirmed reports spread of revenge killings in small villages and robberies on highways across the country.

On Monday, in the northwestern Christian town of al-Suqaylabiyah, a large Christmas tree at a roundabout was set on fire by unknown perpetrators, further raising fears of Syria’s Christian minority being targeted by hardline Islamist groups.

Footage shared on social media showed a member of HTS standing with two priests assuring the crowd in al-Suqaylabiyah that the tree would be repaired before morning.

Hundreds of people protested the act of vandalism across Syria on Tuesday. Protesters in the Bab Touma area of ​​Damascus were seen carrying crosses and marching through the streets. Elsewhere in Damascus people shop at a large open-air Christmas market.

Incidents such as the burning of the Christmas tree have so far been described as isolated cases by the new leadership, which seeks to present itself as a moderate administration for all Syrians despite its Islamist convictions and roots of jihadism.

But minority groups fear being sidelined and attacked, having enjoyed some level of protection under Assad despite the widespread repression that characterized his rule.