Syria’s interim president has made his first journey overseas, travelling to Saudi Arabia in a transfer that’s more likely to be an try to sign Damascus’s shift away from Iran as its predominant regional ally.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was as soon as aligned with al-Qaida, landed in Riyadh alongside his authorities’s international minister, Asaad al-Shaibani. The 2 males travelled on a Saudi jet, with a Saudi flag seen on the desk behind them.
Saudi state tv trumpeted the truth that the primary journey by Sharaa, first recognized internationally by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, was to Riyadh.
Syria’s new three-star, tricolour flag flew subsequent to Saudi Arabia’s on the airport as Sharaa, in a swimsuit and tie, walked off the aircraft. He was scheduled to fulfill the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the dominion’s de facto ruler, on the journey.
Saudi Arabia was one of many Arab nations that poured cash into rebel teams that attempted to topple the previous president Bashar al-Assad after Syria’s 2011 Arab spring protests was a bloody crackdown. Nonetheless, its teams discovered themselves overwhelmed again as Assad, supported by Iran and Russia, fought the conflict right into a stalemate in Syria.
That modified with the December lightning offensive led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group was as soon as affiliated with al-Qaida however has since denounced its former ties.
Sharaa and HTS have fastidiously managed their public picture since, with the interim president favouring an olive-coloured army look much like that of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Girls have been appointed to roles and Sharaa has tried to take care of ties to Syria’s Christian and Shia Alawite populations.
That additionally consists of maintaining Iran and Russia largely at arm’s size. Iran has but to reopen its embassy in Damascus, which had been a key node in working operations by way of its self-described “axis of resistance” that included Assad’s Syria, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and different companions. Russia want to preserve entry to air and sea bases it has in Syria, however took in Assad when he fled Syria in the course of the advance.
The strikes seem aimed toward reassuring the west and attempting to get crippling sanctions on Syria lifted. Rebuilding the nation after greater than a decade of conflict is more likely to value a whole bunch of billions of {dollars}, with out mentioning masking the wants of Syria’s folks, tens of millions of whom stay impoverished.
The Saudi international minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, visited Damascus in January and mentioned Riyadh had been “actively participating in dialogue” to elevate sanctions in opposition to Syria. Saudi Arabia, in contrast to Sharaa’s key allies in Turkey and Qatar, restored ties with Assad in 2023 alongside many of the Arab world. Getting sanctions lifted might go a great distance in cementing their relationship.
In the meantime, Syria’s interim authorities nonetheless faces challenges from the Islamic State group and different militants within the nation. On Saturday, a automotive bomb exploded in Manbij, a metropolis in Syria’s Aleppo governorate, killing 4 civilians and wounding 9, Sana reported, citing civil defence officers.
Turkish-backed Syrian rebels had seized Manbij in December, a part of a push by Ankara to safe Syrian territory near its border for a buffer zone.
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