Syria's new leaders met with French and German foreign ministers in the capital Damascus on Friday, in one of the highest-level Western diplomatic visits since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad last month.
Germany's Annalena Verbock and Frenchman Jean-Noël Barrault will represent the European Union on their first visit in years, as world powers begin to forge ties with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Arrived in Damascus. Syria's new government.
Barbock and Barot met with the group's leader, Ahmad al-Shara, after visiting the notorious Sednaya prison, where the al-Assad regime tortured and killed thousands of detainees.
“We are in Damascus today to offer our support, but we also have clear expectations for the new rulers,” Bourbock said in a statement before the meeting. “A new beginning can only happen if all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion, are given a place to participate in the political process.”
The visit is one in a series of contacts between rebel leaders and Western officials aimed at gradually opening channels with new Syrian authorities. Since coming to power, Al-Shara has worked to cultivate a moderate image.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham remains blacklisted as a terrorist group by the United States and United Nations because of its past ties to al-Qaeda. Al-Shara called on the international community to lift the designation and sought to reassure ethnic minorities, saying he wanted to focus on rebuilding Syria after years of civil war.
“Current events demand the lifting of all sanctions against Syria,” he said in a television interview last month.
Barot said France is calling on Damascus's new rulers to pursue a political transition that allows for the representation of “all the diverse communities of Syria.” Part of this includes reaching a “political solution” with the Kurdish minority, which has carved out an autonomous region in northeastern Syria, he said.
The diplomacy came amid a realignment across the Middle East, where al-Assad's regime was at the core of Iran's regional coalition. His family's decades-long iron-fisted rule was opposed by many Syrians and spurred a 2011 uprising and civil war. At least six foreign militaries were involved in the fighting, including Iran, Russia, and Türkiye.
Many countries, including the United States, are beginning to forge relationships with the new government. In late December, Barbara Leaf, the State Department's top Middle East official, met with al-Shara in Damascus and told him that Washington would no longer pursue a large reward for his arrest.
Some Syrians, especially Christians and other minorities, have misgivings about al-Shara, pointing to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's conservative Islamist roots. In Idlib province, which the group has controlled since 2017, its leaders have banned the sale of alcohol and opened a series of free religious schools. But al-Shara's group has avoided the harsh laws and brutal punishments of extremist groups such as the Taliban and Islamic State.
In a sign of unease among some Syrians, a post this week on a Facebook page run by the Ministry of Education about a new curriculum that some interpreted as having more Islamist leanings. There was a post.
It is not clear whether any changes have been implemented, but Education Minister Nadir al-Qadri said in a statement that the curriculum had not been changed, apart from removing “content glorifying the Assad regime” and adding images. . Syrian revolutionary flag.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham officials have developed ambitious plans to form a new government, and rebel leaders have assumed key positions overseeing the transition. They say they are establishing a committee to form a transitional government in consultation with Syrians of all backgrounds and draft a new Syrian constitution.
Many people in the region are also wary of Syria's new government, which includes Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates and Israel, which have long sought to prevent the rise of political Islamist groups.
Israeli warplanes bombed a Syrian defense research facility near Aleppo on Friday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Israel declined to comment on the report.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military facilities since al-Assad's fall, aiming to eliminate sophisticated weapons such as chemical weapons and long-range missiles. Al-Shara said Syria posed no threat to its neighbors and would maintain its long-standing ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Other developments in the region include:
Houthi missile attack: Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militia launched a ballistic missile into Israel early Friday, setting off air raid sirens across central Israel, including Jerusalem. The Israeli military said it had intercepted the missile, but there were no reports of serious casualties. Israeli warplanes have flown more than 1,000 miles to attack Houthi-held areas in Yemen, but Israel has struggled to stop attacks that have escalated over the past month.
Northern Gaza Hospital: Israeli forces are conducting an operation near an Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, but many doctors and patients have already been evacuated, local health officials say, noting gunshots can be heard outside. did. The Israeli military said it had no intention of evacuating the hospital. Israeli forces last week attacked another hospital, Kamal Adwan, in northern Gaza, accusing Hamas of operating on the premises. Israeli forces have arrested at least 240 suspected militants. Among them is hospital director Hassam Abu Safiyah. Amnesty International called for his release.
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon: The Israeli military announced Thursday night that it had bombed Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, with a 60-day cease-fire largely in place. Since the deal entered into force in late November, Israel has repeatedly shelled Hezbollah fighters who it says are violating the agreement. Hezbollah has generally refrained from responding militarily. The current ceasefire is set to expire at the end of January, but the United States and its allies hope it will become permanent.
Abu Bakr Bashir and Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting.
