Mohamed al-Bashir has been appointed the caretaker prime minister of the transitional Syrian government until March 1, 2025.
Al-Bashir ran the rebel-led Salvation government, which had already been governing parts of northwestern Syria and Idlib.
The Salvation government is linked to the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir-al Shams, which led the overthrow of al-Assad’s regime in Syria after 13 years of civil war.
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"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," Bashir said in a brief address on state television.
"The meeting was under the headline of transferring the files and institutions to caretake the government," he added.
Who is Mohammed al-Bashir?
Born in Jabal Zawiya region of Idlib in 1986, Bashir has been serving as the fifth prime minister of the self-declared HTS administration, the Syrian Salvation government.
He holds multiple qualifications including engineering and administrative planning.
He earned a degree in electrical and electronic engineering, specialising in communications, from the University of Aleppo in 2007.
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Bashir joined "the ranks of revolutionaries" in 2021 following the Syrian uprising against Assad.
Between 2022 and 2023, he served as the minister of development and humanitarian affairs under his predecessor, Ali Keda.
In January 2024, the Shura Council of the Salvation Government elected him as prime minister.
When HTS and other Syrian rebel groups launched their Northwestern Syria offensive, Bashir announced in a press conference that the offensive was a response to the Syrian regime's attacks on civilians, which he said had displaced "tens of thousands" of people.
