Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (L) meeting with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar on January 5, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Syria’s new Foreign Minister met with his Qatari counterpart and Qatar’s Prime Minister in Doha on Sunday (January 5, 2025), as Syria’s new de facto authorities under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, establish diplomatic ties with regional and global governments.

Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani posted on X that he’s also set to visit Jordan and the United Arabs Emirates to develop strategic partnerships, and support Syria’s security and economic recovery.

Mr. Al-Shibani met with his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh on Thursday (January 2, 2025). And he also welcomed the Foreign Ministers of Germany and France in Damascus on Friday (January 3, 2025).

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted President Bashar Assad on December 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Mr. Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Mr. Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Now, Syria under Islamist rule hopes to reestablish those ties and lift sanctions slapped on HTS and leader Ahmad al-Sharaa to help make Syria’s battered economy viable again. Mr. Assad was backed by Russia, Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. HTS now hopes Syria can strengthen ties with Arab countries in the region.

Qatar supported opposition groups that fought against Mr. Assad and his allies, and was one of a few Arab countries that opposed restoring ties with the ousted Mr. Assad and Syria’s return to the Arab League in 2023.

“We conveyed to Doha our concerns about the challenges related to the economic sanctions imposed on the Syrian people, and we renew our call on the United States to lift those sanctions,” Syrian radio station Sham FM quoted Mr. Al-Shibani as saying.

Around 90% of Syrians live in poverty, while more than half of the population doesn’t know where their next meal will come from, according to the United Nations.

Mr. Al-Sharaa has said he will hold a national dialogue summit that includes different groups across Syria to agree upon a new political road map leading to a new constitution and an election.

He vowed to dissolve HTS during the summit and has said in an interview with Saudi television network Al-Arabiyya that the de facto rulers are all of the same political background during this transitional phase for the sake of efficiency in running the country.

Still, it’s unclear whether Washington will lift sanctions anytime soon. Europe, meanwhile, appears hesitant because of fears over how religious minorities and women will be treated.

This handout picture released by the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA shows France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (C-R), Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (L) meeting with Syria’s new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) and Asaad Shaybani, Foreign Minister for the interim Syrian government (R) in Damascus on January 3, 2025. Visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on Syria’s new rulers on to reach a settlement with Kurdish authorities in the northeast. Barrot and Baerbock met al-Sharaa in Damascus, in the highest-level visit by major Western powers since Islamist-led rebels seized power last month.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The European Union backs a peaceful, inclusive transition in Syria, top French and German diplomats said Friday on a Damascus visit to meet with new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were in the Syrian capital for talks on behalf of the European Union, in the highest-level visit by major Western powers since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.

AFPTV footage showed the two ministers sitting down with Sharaa for talks at the presidential palace.

Earlier, the pair stopped at the notorious Saydnaya prison, not far from the capital, AFP journalists said.

Accompanied by White Helmet rescuers, Barrot and Baerbock toured the cells and underground dungeons of Saydnaya, the epitome of atrocities committed during Assad’s paranoid rule.

The prison was the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances. An advocacy group said more than 4,000 people were freed from the facility when rebel forces took Damascus on December 8.

Sharaa, head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led the offensive that toppled Assad and sent him fleeing to Moscow.

The HTS-dominated interim authorities now face the daunting task of rebuilding state institutions, with growing calls to ensure an inclusive transition and guarantee minority rights.

Barrot, in Damascus, expressed hope for a “sovereign, stable and peaceful” Syria.

It was also a “hope that the aspirations of all Syrians can be realised”, he added, “but it is a fragile hope”.

In a statement, Baerbock said Germany wanted to help Syria become a “functioning state”, calling the visit a “clear signal” to Damascus of the possibility for a new relationship between Syria and Germany, and Europe more broadly.

‘Important crossroads’

Despite “scepticism” about HTS — which is rooted in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and is designated a terrorist organisation by numerous governments — Baerbock said that “we must not miss the opportunity to support the Syrian people at this important crossroads”.

Berlin was ready to support “an inclusive and peaceful transfer of power”, as well as social “reconciliation”, she said.

She also asked the new administration to avoid “acts of vengeance against groups within the population”, as well as any long delays before elections or attempts at the “Islamisation” of the judicial and education systems.

Since Assad’s ousting, a series of foreign envoys have travelled to Damascus to meet with the country’s new leaders.

France and Germany had both already sent lower-level delegations last month.

At the start of his visit, Barrot met with representatives of Syria’s Christian communities.

Diplomatic sources said Barrot told the Christian leaders that France was committed to a pluralistic Syria with equal rights for all, including minority groups.

During separate talks with representatives of Syria’s long-repressed civil society, Barrot called for a “political solution” with the Kurds, who control a large part of northeastern Syria.

Fighting in north

The country’s civil war — which started in 2011, sparked by the Assad government’s brutal repression of democracy protests — saw Germany, France and a host of other countries shutter their diplomatic missions in Damascus.

The conflict killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and left Syria fragmented, its people impoverished and infrastructure ravaged.

Calls for a peaceful new Syria come as fighting continues in the country’s north, where Turkish-backed groups have been clashing with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

On Thursday a war monitor said such clashes killed at least 24 fighters in Manbij district.

The same day, Barrot spoke with Mazloum Abdi, the leader of the US-backed SDF. They discussed “the ongoing transition in Syria”, the French foreign ministry said, with Kurds fearing for their limited self-rule.

Sharaa last week told Al Arabiya TV that the Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into the new national army.

Also on Thursday, Israel bombed positions of the former Syrian army south of Aleppo, said the monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reporting the latest of hundreds such Israeli strikes since Assad’s fall.

Israel has said its targets have included chemical weapons to avoid them falling into the hands of “extremists.”

In Damascus, Barrot called on Syria’s transitional administration to swiftly contact the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) so they can inspect and destroy such stockpiles that belonged to the Assad government.