Syria's new ruler says he wants all weapons and armed factions to come under state control - and that includes the Syrian Kurds. Also on the programme: Israel's latest targets in Gaza include an abandoned school housing homeless families and a barely functioning hospital; we hear from a woman who had an online exchange with the Saudi man accused of murder after five people were killed in a car attack at a Christmas market in Germany. And the Ugandan athlete who's just run from Cape Town to London. Photo: Syria's rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, Credit: Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office Handout EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstoc
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Hello and welcome to Newser from the BBC World Service.
Coming to you live from London, I'm Julian Marshall.
Syria's new ruler, Ahmed Al Shara, previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al Jelani, is starting to assert his authority.
He said today all weapons in the country are to come under state control.
He said something similar in the past, but what's different this time are his added details and in whose company he made his comments.
He was holding a joint news conference in Damascus with Hakan Fidan, Foreign Minister of Turkey, which backed the rebels who overthrow Bashar Al Assad.
Turkey regards Syrian Kurds as allied to the Turkish Kurdish movement, the pkk, which Turkey and others deem a terrorist group.
And at the news conference, Mr.
Al Sharra, Syrian Kurdish fighters of the SDF would be included in the disarmament exercise.
We will not by any means allow for arms outside the control of the.
State, whether from revolutionary factions or factions in SDF areas.
We need to close this chapter as.
Quickly as possible because the presence of.
Rogue arms in the country is what leads to chaos and unstable security.