Rubio warns that Syria may be weeks away from the “complete civil war”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for the support of the transitional authorities in Syria, warning that the country may be just weeks away from “a possible collapse and the widespread civil war of epic dimensions.”

In a hearing of the Senate Committee for Foreign Relations, he defended the decision of President Donald Trump last week to lift sanctions on Syria before interviewing President Ahmed Al -Shara, a former leader of Al -Qaeda who led the rebel attack that overthrew Bashar al -Assad in December.

Rubio explained that Trump’s logical basis is that other countries wanted to help the Shara administration and send aid, but were afraid of the sanctions.

There was no immediate comment from the Syrian officials.

The United States imposed sanctions on Syria in response to the atrocities committed by the forces loyal to Assad during the 13 -year -old Civil War, in which more than 600,000 people were killed and forced 12 million others of their homes.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously insisted on many of the circumstances that were fulfilled before lifting, including the protection of religious and ethnic minorities.

Although Sharaa promised to do so, the country has rocked a wave of deadly sectarian violence in recent months.

In March, nearly 900 civilians, especially the Assad sect members in Assad, were killed by the pro -government forces throughout the Western coastal region during the fighting between the security forces and loyalists in the previous regime, according to one monitoring group. According to the killing of nearly 450 civilians and 170 security personnel.

At the beginning of May, it was said that more than 100 people were killed in clashes between the militants of the Druze religious minority, the new security forces and the Sunni Islamic fighters allied in the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, and the southern province of Suwaida.

Even before this violence, many members of minority societies were concerned about the new transitional authorities, dominated by the Sunni Islamic Group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS). It is a precedent subsidiary of al -Qaeda that is still designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Sharaa itself is also also listed by the United States as a specially dedicated “global terrorist”, although the Biden administration announced in December that the United States will offer a reward of $ 10 million (7.5 million pounds) to arrest him.

Despite the past of Shara, Trump seized the opportunity to meet him while attending the Gulf Leaders ’Summit in Saudi Arabia last week.

After that, the American president told the correspondents that he was “young and attractive”, adding: “A strong man. Strong past. A very strong past. Fighter.”

He said: “He got a real snapshot in collecting (Syria) together, adding,” It is a torn country. “

Meanwhile, Shara said that Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Syria “was a historical and brave decision, which reduces the suffering of the people, contributes to a new birth and lay the foundations for stability in the region.”

Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, DC on Tuesday, Rubio mocked that “the bad news is that the numbers of transitional authority … did not go through the background verification with the FBI.”

“But on the other side of that, if we share them, it may succeed, it may not work. If we do not publish them, it was guaranteed not to work.”

“In fact, our evaluation, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they face, may be weeks, not several months, away from the potential collapse and the widespread war of etensance with epic dimensions, mainly the country is divided.”

He did not explain, but he said that the minorities of Syria “deal with deep inner lack of confidence … because Assad deliberately incited these groups against each other.”

He said that Trump decided to lift the sanctions quickly because “the countries in the region want to get help, want to start their help. They cannot because they are afraid of our sanctions.”

Rubio also spoke, the European Union foreign ministers agreed to lift economic sanctions on Syria.

“We want to help the Syrian people to rebuild a new, comprehensive and peaceful Syria,” wrote Kaja Calas, head of the mass policy of the bloc on X.

“The European Union has always stood alongside the Syrians for the past 14 years – and it will continue to do so.”

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the decision was “the beginning of a new chapter in the Syrian -European relations based on common prosperity and mutual respect.”