<p>International diplomats reacted cautiously Monday to the prospect of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group taking control in Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. HTS has its roots in the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda and is proscribed as a "terrorist" organisation by Western governments. Aaron Y. Zelin, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says that HTS' governance in Idlib was not a "liberal democracy by any stretch of the imagination".</p><br /><br />Visit our website:<br />http://www.france24.com<br /><br />Like us on Facebook:<br />https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English<br /><br />Follow us on Twitter:<br />https://twitter.com/France24_en<br />
