Syrian Government Services at 'Complete Halt'

Syria's prime minister said Monday that most cabinet ministers were back at work after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad, but some state workers failed to return to their jobs, and a United Nations official said the country's public sector had come "to a complete and abrupt halt." Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighboring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Assad's brutal rule.

• There were signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country, the AP reports. The alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaeda militant who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said Monday it would not tell women how to dress. "It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women's dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty," the command said in a statement on social media.

• Nearly two days after rebels entered the capital, some key government services had shut down after state workers ignored calls to go back to their jobs, the UN official said, causing issues at airports and borders and slowing the flow of humanitarian aid. "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," UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria Adam Abdelmoula Abdelmoula told the AP. "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."
• Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met for the first time with Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali, who stayed in Syria when Assad fled. "You will see there are skills" among the rebels, al-Sharaa said in a video shared on a rebel messaging channel.
• Israel said it carried out airstrikes on suspected chemical weapons sites and long-range rockets to keep them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel has also seized a buffer zone inside Syria after Syrian troops withdrew. "The only interest we have is the security of Israel and its citizens," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters Monday.

• Jalali, the prime minister, has sought to project normalcy since Assad fled. "We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth," he told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, saying the security situation had already improved from the day before. At the court of Justice in Damascus, which was stormed by the rebels to free detainees, Judge Khitam Haddad, an aide to the justice minister in the outgoing government, said Sunday that judges were ready to resume work quickly.
• European countries including Germany and France said Monday that they plan to freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, Le Monde reports. Turkey, meanwhile, opened a border crossing to facilitate the return of refugees.

(More Syria stories.)