Western and regional diplomats have trod the road to Damascus since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew the 54-year-old Assad regime a month ago after an 11-day offensive.
For Arab governments this amounted to a swift switch. Most had normalised relations with ousted president Bashar al-Assad and the Arab League ended Syria’s suspension in 2023 after the country’s war had wound down. The US and Europe did not welcome Arab reconciliation largely because Iran and Russia had supported the Assad government in its fight for survival against insurgents.
The rush of visitors began with UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen, who spoke for external actors when he stated that HTS “have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness”. He added, “We have also seen ... reassuring things on the ground”, and he called for follow up “in practice in the days and the weeks ahead of us”.
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were the first Western diplomats to hold discussions with HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani. As HTS is the sibling of the Islamic State terror group, which imposed repressive rule in Syria and Iraq, Baerbock said, “Europe will support Syria” under HTS but “will not finance new Islamist structures”.
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As Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and France reopened their embassies, US officials Barbara Leaf, Roger Carstens and Daniel Rubinstein held talks with Sharaa, lifting a $10 million bounty on his head. Among the issues they discussed were ending HTS’s terrorist designation and the fate of US freelance journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012.
[ How will Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rule Syria? Its past offers cluesOpens in new window ]
Sharaa’s most recent visitors were Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, and Qatari minister of state Mohammed al-Khulaifi. He restored contact with Syria after 13 years of estrangement due to the conflict. Following an anti-HTS media campaign accusing it of terrorism, the planned visit of Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty was postponed, according to London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Although most Arab leaders are autocrats, their foreign ministers have called for a new political system in Syria through UN-monitored free and fair elections based on a constitution approved by Syrians.
Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt have sent planeloads of humanitarian aid for the 90 per cent of Syrians living in poverty. Ukraine has said it would supply wheat, flour and oil.
On a mission to secure Arab support for lifting US and Western sanctions, which obstruct economic revival and reconstruction, Syria’s foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited Saudi Arabia and has travelled to Qatar, Jordan and the Emirates this week.
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