Eight days after being overthrown, the former Syrian president broke his silence on Monday, calling the country’s new leaders “terrorists”. Abandoned by his allies, Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow when a coalition of rebel groups led by radical Islamists seized Damascus on December 8.
The time has now come for “massive aid” for Syria, declared the head of UN humanitarian aid, traveling to Damascus. “Seven out of ten Syrians need help now,” said Tom Fletcher. One thing is certain, Syria should be able to count on France, according to the words of its special envoy, Jean-François Guillaume.
Information to remember:
⇒ France is “alongside the Syrians”, assures its special envoy to Damascus
⇒ The UN predicts the return of one million refugees between January and June 2025
⇒ Abou Mohammed al-Joulani calls for sanctions to be lifted
EU must ‘intensify’ relationship with HTC, says Ursula von der Leyen
The European Union must “intensify” its relationship with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC) in power in Syria since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, declared this Tuesday midday the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “We must now intensify our direct engagement with HTC and other factions,” she declared after an interview with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, also judging that the EU and its allies “cannot allow” the “resurgence” of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria.
The European Union will release new aid of one billion euros to finance aid to refugees in Türkiye, the leader also said. “An additional billion euros is on the way for 2024. This sum will be used in particular to finance health care and education for refugees in Turkey and (…) will contribute to migration and border management, including voluntary return of Syrian refugees,” she detailed.
In Damascus, “France is preparing to stand alongside the Syrians”
“France is preparing to be alongside the Syrians over the long term,” the French special envoy for Syria Jean-François Guillaume told journalists on Tuesday, after having indicated that he had come to Damascus “in a context of taking contact with the authorities”, expressing the hope that “the transition period” will be “peaceful”.
Shortly before his arrival, members of the French security forces entered the embassy building through the kitchen and broke the padlock on the main door from the inside. The tricolor flag was then hoisted on the building.
Asked about the date of reopening of the embassy, Jean-François Guillaume affirmed that he could not comment “until the security criteria are met”. The French embassy in Syria closed on March 6, 2012, by decision of President Nicolas Sarkozy, to protest against the violent repression by the power of Bashar al-Assad of the peaceful popular uprising.
German diplomats will also meet representatives of the transitional government this Tuesday, while a British delegation arrived on Monday. The European Union, for its part, said it was “ready” to reopen its embassy in Damascus. “We are ready to reopen our delegation, which is the European embassy, and we want it to be fully operational again,” declared the head of European diplomacy Kaja Kallas before the European Parliament in Strasbourg. “We cannot leave a vacuum in Syria. The EU must be present,” she added on X, specifying that the bloc had already started, “cautiously”, a dialogue with the new power in Syria and with civil society.
The UN predicts the return of one million refugees between January and June 2025
The UN estimated this Tuesday that one million Syrian refugees could return to the country between January and June 2025, following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. “We now plan […] to see around a million Syrians return between January and June next year,” said Rema Jamous Imseis, director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the Middle East and North Africa, during a press briefing in Geneva.
The Organization also welcomed the “full humanitarian access” granted by the new Syrian authorities. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the interim government’s “commitment to protecting civilians, including humanitarian workers” and “its agreement to grant full humanitarian access across all border crossing points”, in a press release released on Tuesday.
After a meeting with Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, the leader of the now ruling coalition, who now calls himself by his real name, Ahmad al-Chareh, the United Nations deputy secretary, Tom Fletcher, also affirmed that the UN thought it could provide “ambitious aid” to Syria. “Moment of cautious hope in Syria. My meetings in Damascus, including constructive discussions with the commander of the new administration, Ahmed al-Shareh, are encouraging. We have a basis for an ambitious increase in humanitarian assistance vital,” he said on the social network
Giorgia Meloni ready to dialogue with the new power, but calls for caution
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Tuesday she was ready to dialogue with the new leaders in Syria while calling for “maximum caution” vis-à-vis the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC) in power since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. Italy “is ready to dialogue with the new Syrian leaders, obviously in the context of assessments and actions shared with European and international partners,” she said during a speech to Parliament in Rome. “The first signs seem encouraging, but maximum caution is necessary,” she added. “Words must be followed by actions, and we will judge the new Syrian authorities by their actions.”
According to Giorgia Meloni, “the decisive element will be the attitude towards ethnic and religious minorities.” I am thinking in particular of Christians, who have already paid a very high price and have too often been the object of persecution,” she stressed. Italy reopened its embassy in Damascus at the beginning of the summer, thus becoming the first G7 country to do so.
Iran will reopen its embassy in Syria when conditions “are met”
Iran will not immediately reopen its embassy in Syria, Iranian diplomacy said on Tuesday, after the ransacking of its representation in Damascus during the fall of President Bashar el-Assad. “The reopening of the embassy in Damascus requires preparations […] We will continue this work as soon as the necessary conditions are met in terms of security,” said Esmaïl Baghaï, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The most important thing is to ensure the security of the embassy and its personal,” he added.
Syria and Iran have long maintained friendly ties, thanks to a rapprochement made in the 1970s by Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, well before the advent of the Islamic Republic of Iran. . But the seizure of power in Damascus by the rebels threatens to change the situation. At the beginning of December, the Iranian embassy in Syria was ransacked, an act previously unimaginable in an allied country.
Abu Mohammed al-Joulani calls for sanctions to be lifted
The leader of the Islamist-dominated coalition that took power in Syria announced Monday evening that the fighting factions would be “disbanded” in the army, and deemed it necessary to lift international sanctions targeting Damascus for the return of refugees after 13 years of conflict.
The capture of Damascus on December 8 by a coalition of rebel groups led by the radical Islamists of HTC, at the end of a lightning offensive, brought down Bashar al-essad, putting an end to more than half a century of reigns unchallenged. These groups “will be dissolved and their fighters prepared to join the ranks of the Ministry of Defense, and all will be subject to the law,” said Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, who now goes by his real name, Ahmed al -Chareh, in comments reported by the Telegram channel of the coalition led by the radical Sunni group Hayat Tahrir al-Cham (HTC).
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, who posed as the protector of minorities in a Sunni majority country, HTC, a former branch of Al-Qaeda, and the transitional government insisted on respecting the rights of all Syrians. Ahmed al-Chareh made the remarks during a meeting Monday with members of the Druze community, a branch of Shiite Islam, estimated at around 3% of Syria’s pre-war population. “Syria must remain united, and there must be a social contract between the State and all faiths to guarantee social justice,” he said in front of the Druze dignitaries.
During a second meeting with a delegation of British diplomats, Ahmed al-Chareh also “mentioned the importance of restoring relations” with London and “underlined the need to lift all sanctions imposed on Syria in order to allow the return of Syrian refugees to their country”, in comments reported on Telegram.