The main airport in Syria receives the first international flights since the fall of the Assad regime

Syria’s main airport received its first international flights on Tuesday since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s government last month, as new leaders push to reassert a semblance of normalcy in the war-torn country.

A Qatar Airways plane landed after a direct flight from Doha to the Syrian capital, Damascus. The Jordanian Civil Aviation Authority announced that it also sent an initial flight to Damascus on Tuesday morning as a “message of support” to its northern neighbor, which is the first flight that the national carrier has made there in 13 years.

Another flight belonging to the Syrian national carrier took off on Tuesday, heading to the United Arab Emirates, carrying 145 passengers, according to Syrian official media. A video clip published by Syrian media showed people on board the plane waving Syrian flags and singing nationalist songs.

Syria’s new Islamist leaders have pledged to form a committee to draft a comprehensive constitution for the country. They have urged civil servants to return to work to restart the machinery of government, and insist that Syria no longer poses any threat to its neighbours.

But the country remains subject to a host of international sanctions imposed under Mr. Assad’s regime. The new interim government is run by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which several countries have blacklisted as a terrorist group due to its past ties to al-Qaeda, although it broke away from the group several years ago.

Western leaders have responded to the new administration with a mixture of optimism and caution, fearing that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham could target it. duty Islamic rule over the country or generate a new wave of internal unrest. They called for a comprehensive political transition.

“Europe will support, but will not be a sponsor of new Islamic structures,” Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister, said during a visit to Damascus last week.

Sanctions are one of the biggest obstacles facing the new Syrian administration as it tries to chart a way forward. Once Mr. Lion to flee In December, one of the first requests of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the rebel coalition that ousted the government, was for the United States and others to begin easing restrictions.

On Monday, the Biden administration Up Some restrictions on humanitarian aid to Syria. However, it has maintained tough sanctions, a reflection of how carefully Western governments have calibrated their approach to new leaders.

Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani, the new Syrian Foreign Minister, welcomed the Biden administration’s decision to ease restrictions. Mr. Al-Shaibani and other new Syrian officials have gone on a regional tour to calm Arab countries that were concerned about the rise of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, including United Arab Emirates.

At a press conference in Jordan on Tuesday after a meeting with Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s foreign minister, he called for the remaining sanctions to be lifted immediately, arguing that Assad’s fall had removed any reason to keep them in place.

Al-Shaibani said: “These economic sanctions are now being applied against the Syrian people, even though the reason for imposing them has disappeared.” “It should have been canceled as soon as the previous regime was overthrown.”

Al-Safadi said that Syria and Jordan agreed to form a joint committee to address security affairs along their common border. Jordan has long expressed its fears about the smuggling of weapons and drugs from Syrian territory in particular CaptagonIt is an illegal stimulant that was illicitly trafficked by those close to Mr. Assad.

Mr. Al-Shaibani pledged that the new Syrian government would end Captagon smuggling, which analysts say generates huge profits for the coffers of senior officials in Mr. Assad’s government.

Al-Shaibani said that the smuggling threat “will not return, and we are ready to cooperate intensively in this regard.”