Syria's interim PM calls on refugees to return, rebuild country

Syria's new interim prime minister has said that he aimed to bring back millions of Syrian refugees, protect all citizens and provide basic services.

"Their human capital and experience will help restart the country. My appeal goes out to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has regained its pride and dignity. Come back. We need to rebuild, to get our country on its feet again, and we need everyone's help," Mohammed al Bashir said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera in Damascus on Wednesday.

Even before that, our first priority is to restore security and stability in all Syrian cities, he added.

"People are exhausted by injustice and tyranny. The authority of the state must be reestablished to allow people to return to work and resume their normal lives," Bashir added.

He also mentioned that strategic planning was among the other top priorities of the interim government.

"Syrians cannot live with the precariousness of essential services like electricity, food, and water," he said.

Bashar al Assad, Syrian regime leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after armed anti-regime groups took control of Damascus early on Sunday, ending the Baath Party rule, which had been in power since 1963.

The civil war in Syria has left over 15 million people in need of aid and the vast majority of Syrians live in poverty, according to the International Rescue Committee.