Syria new PM sets out to bring order

Syria's new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.

In a brief address on state television, Mohammed al-Bashir, a figure little known across most of Syria who previously ran an administration in a pocket of the northwest controlled by rebels, said he would lead the interim authority until March 1.

"Today we held a cabinet meeting that included a team from the Salvation government that was working in Idlib and its vicinity, and the government of the ousted regime," he said. "The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and institutions to caretake the government."

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had struck most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria in the last 48 hours, and that Israeli naval missile ships had struck two Syrian navy facilities.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it conducted about 480 strikes over the past 48 hours on strategic military targets in Syria.

"Within the last 48 hours, the IDF (army) struck most of the strategic weapons stockpiles in Syria, preventing them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements," the military said in a statement, adding that the targets included 15 naval vessels, anti-aircraft batteries and weapons production sites in several cities.

Turkey's intelligence agency destroyed 12 trucks loaded with missiles and heavy weapons, two tanks and ammunition stores being transported by the Kurdish YPG militia in northeast Syria, a Turkish security source said on Tuesday.

As a transitional government was named in Damascus, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, called for an "inclusive" political process and said US recognition would depend on Syria's new masters meeting those standards.

"The Syrian people will decide the future of Syria. All nations should pledge to support an inclusive and transparent process and refrain from external interference," Blinken said in a statement.

"The United States will recognise and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process."

Representatives of neighbouring states and Gulf Arab nations have reportedly held meetings with HTS officials and were widely expected to recognise the transitional government in the coming days.

Western capitals have indicated they are ready to rethink that designation depending on HTS's behaviour, and US officials are reported to have had unofficial contacts with HTS