European ministers visit Syria to strengthen relations with the new government

Syria’s new leaders are scheduled to meet the foreign ministers of France and Germany in the capital, Damascus, on Friday in one of the highest-profile Western diplomatic visits since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad last month.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s top diplomat, and Jean-Noel Barrot, French Foreign Minister, arrived in Damascus on the first such trip in years on behalf of the European Union, as world powers begin to build relations with the European Union. Hayat Tahrir al-ShamThe Islamic group that leads the new Syrian government.

Ms. Birbock and Mr. Barrow were scheduled to meet with Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the group’s leader. The two also visited the notorious Sednaya prison, where Mr. Assad’s regime is held They tortured and killed thousands Of the detainees.

“We travel to Damascus today to offer our support, but also with clear expectations for the new rulers,” Ms. Baerbock said in a statement. “A new beginning can only happen if all Syrians, regardless of their race and religion, have a place in the political process.”

These visits come as part of a series of meetings between rebel leaders and Western officials who are looking to gradually open channels with the new Syrian authorities, as Mr. Al-Sharaa has worked to project a moderate image since taking power.

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham is still blacklisted as a terrorist group by the United States and the United Nations due to… Its previous ties to Al-Qaeda. Mr. Al-Sharaa called on the international community to remove this designation, sought to reassure minorities, and said he wanted to focus on rebuilding Syria after years of civil war.

“Current events require lifting all sanctions on Syria,” he said in a televised interview last month.

Many countries – including the United States – have done so She began to establish relations with the new government. In late December, Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s senior official for Middle Eastern affairs, met with Mr. Sharaa in Damascus and told him that Washington would no longer apply a years-old reward for his capture.

On Friday, Mr. Barrow also visited the site of the abandoned French embassy in Damascus, which was closed in 2012 as the civil war escalated, the French Foreign Ministry said.

This diplomacy comes during a realignment across the Middle East, where Syria has historically been a major power and for decades a symbol of iron-fisted rule by a single family, which most Syrians oppose. At least six foreign armies were involved in the country’s nearly 14-year civil war, including Iran, Russia, Turkey and the United States.

Mr. Al-Shara’a’s group is conservative and follows the principles of political Islam, but it broke away from Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State years ago, and even fought them. It administers much of Syria’s Idlib Governorate, which had been controlled by the opposition to Assad’s government, since 2017.

Officials within the group have drawn up an ambitious plan to form a new government, and rebel leaders have taken key positions to oversee the transition. A caretaker government will be formed in consultation with Syrians of all backgrounds, and a committee will be established to draft a new Syrian constitution.

Here are other developments in the region:

• Houthi missile attacks: The Iranian-backed Yemeni militia fired a ballistic missile at Israel before dawn on Friday, setting off sirens across central Israel, including Jerusalem. The Israeli army said it intercepted the missile and there were no reports of serious injuries. Israeli fighter jets have flown more than 1,000 miles to strike Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, but Israel has He struggled to stop Attacks that escalated over the past month.

• Israeli strikes on Lebanon: The Israeli army announced, on Thursday evening, that it had bombed Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon as a truce for 60 days. It largely continues to hold up. Since the agreement entered into force in late November, Israel has repeatedly bombed what it says are Hezbollah fighters violating the agreement. Hezbollah generally refrained from responding militarily. The current ceasefire is scheduled to expire in late January, although the United States and its allies hope it will become permanent.