Germany says will judge Syrian rebels by their actions

Germany said on Monday it would judge the Syrian rebel group that spearheaded the offensive to oust President Bashar al-Assad by the actions it takes in government.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) would "certainly play a role in the future of Syria", foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a regular press conference.

The group had its roots in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and is proscribed as a "terrorist" organization by Western governments, including the European Union.

But HTS split with Al-Qaeda years ago and plotted a "different course", Fischer said.

"It has tried in recent months and years to distance itself from its jihadist origins and also to build up civil structures," he said.

How seriously this new direction could be taken would depend on how HTS "deals with civilians and, in particular, minorities in the area they now control", Fischer said.

"Ultimately, HTS must be judged by its actions," he said.

The HTS stronghold of Idlib, a province in northwestern Syria, was "no democratic paradise", Fischer said.

"People were also imprisoned for dissenting opinions and dissenting behavior," he said of Idlib.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday the fall of Al-Assad's government was "good news" and called for law and order in Syria to be "quickly restored".

Almost one million Syrian refugees live in Germany, having fled the civil war in their home country.

Scholz said that many Syrians "are wondering what will happen next because there are also radical and extremist forces among the resistance fighters".

The chancellor called for the protection of minorities in Syria and the respect of the country's "territorial integrity and sovereignty".