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NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s outgoing special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, told the Security Council on Thursday that Syria’s fragile political transition remains at a critical juncture.

Success will depend on inclusive governance, significant international support and a halt to foreign interference, he warned.

And amid simmering tensions in parts of the country following violent clashes over the summer, the Syrian people want to see that abuses are properly acknowledged and addressed in accordance with international standards, he added.

Pedersen unexpectedly resigned on Thursday after almost seven years as the organization’s representative to the war-torn country.

“I wish to let the council know that I have informed the secretary-general of my intention to step down after more than six-and-a-half years serving as United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, and he has graciously accepted my request,” he told the council.

Pedersen welcomed the country’s newly appointed permanent representative to the UN, Ibrahim Al-Olabi, and acknowledged the complex legacy inherited by the interim authorities after the collapse of the Assad regime in December last year.

“They have inherited not just the ruins of shattered buildings but the deeper wreckage of a battered social fabric, decayed institutions and a hollowed-out economy,” Pedersen said. “Syria urgently requires international material assistance … and political stability.”

He stressed the need for broader regional and international cooperation to help revive the private sector and support domestic reforms, reiterated calls for sanctions relief, and emphasized the need for ongoing foreign intervention to cease.

Recent actions by the Israeli military inside Syria, including reported strikes and commando operations, were “unacceptable,” Pedersen added as he called for Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity to be fully respected.

Turning to the situation in the city of Sweida, where hundreds were killed when heavy fighting between Druze and Bedouin broke out two months ago, Pedersen said a ceasefire agreement announced in July has largely held, and recent US-Jordanian-Syrian peace efforts have produced a road map that addresses critical issues such as humanitarian access, reconstruction, detainees and reconciliation.

However, a local committee aligned with an influential Druze leader, Sheikh Hikmet Al-Hijri, has rejected the plan, calling instead for “self-administration or secession.”

Pedersen stressed the need for dialogue, confidence-building exercises, and state action that ensures the protection of all communities, not threats. He welcomed a call by the Syrian government for a UN Commission of Inquiry into the recent events in Sweida as a step toward accountability and cooperation.

He also called for the Syrian national committee investigating unrest on the coast earlier this year to publish its findings, and addressed recent tensions in the Sumariya neighborhood of Damascus, where armed raids linked to interim authority-affiliated security forces have prompted concerns about protection of civilians.

“The public needs to see that abuses are both acknowledged and addressed in accordance with international standards,” Pedersen said.

He underscored the central role of transitional justice to the overall political process in Syria, and offered UN support for national commissions addressing this issue and that of missing persons.

In northeastern Syria, discussions between the interim authorities and the Syrian Democratic Forces continue under a March 10 agreement, focusing on military integration and confidence-building. Pedersen characterized the talks as “positive” though the challenges remain significant.

Security concerns persist in areas held by the interim authority, he added, with unresolved issues around disarmament, reintegration and foreign fighters.

Pedersen also called for renewed efforts to repatriate foreign nationals from Al-Hol refugee camp, and underlined the readiness of the UN to support such processes.

He noted that Syria still lacks a legislature and that preparations were underway for the indirect election of two-thirds of the members of an interim People’s Assembly, though a date for this has yet to be confirmed. Pedersen emphasized the importance of transparency and inclusion in this process, especially for women and marginalized communities.

“This must not be an exercise in rewarding loyalty but in ensuring genuine representation,” he said.

He warned that exclusion of dissenting voices could undermine the entire transition, including the development of a constitution and eventual national elections.

Throughout the briefing, Pedersen emphasized the critical importance of inclusivity and national consensus, cautioning that a mishandled transition could plunge Syria into renewed conflict and foreign intervention.

“Viewed by the standard of Syria’s challenges, we can point to remarkable changes in a short period,” he said. “But the key determinant of success has been genuine inclusion.”

President Ahmad Al-Sharaa will attend the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in New York next week, the first Syrian president to do so since 1967.

“Only dialogue, not force, can unite Syria,” Pedersen quoted Al-Sharaa as saying.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Interior Ministry contacted Hezbollah officials on Thursday to intervene after plans to project an image of former party chief Hassan Nasrallah onto a prominent Beirut landmark sparked outrage among lawmakers, a senior political source told Arab News.

The initiative was part of events planned to mark the first anniversary of the deaths of Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, both former secretaries-general of the group, who were killed during the war with Israel.

Ali Daher, head of Hezbollah’s media activities unit, announced that the commemorations would include illuminating Raouche Rock, a landmark off the coast of Beirut, on Sept. 25 with the images of Nasrallah and Safieddine.

However, the announcement sparked a wave of discontent and protests among a group of Beirut MPs, who recalled a history of political and security disputes between Beirut and Hezbollah, and unanimously agreed that the Raouche Rock “must not be used in partisan contexts.”

The controversy was further fueled by the fact that Hezbollah had not obtained approval from the Beirut Governorate, the municipality, or any relevant official authority before proceeding with plans involving one of the capital’s key landmarks.

“Communications intensified on Thursday to pre-empt any escalation of Hezbollah’s move, with the interior minister directly engaging the group’s leadership to resolve the issue,” an official political source told Arab News.

Hezbollah MP Amin Sherri, who is also an MP for Beirut, confirmed that this communication had taken place.

He told Arab News: “It was just an idea that was floated, and I do not think that such an activity requires the approval of the capital’s governor or its municipality. Perhaps it just needs prior notice.”

Sherri questioned whether the commemoration of former president Bachir Gemayel’s assassination in Ashrafieh Square last week, or recent religious ceremonies held along the Ain El Mraiseh corniche, had obtained prior approval from authorities.

Beirut MP Waddah Sadek described plans to project images of the former Hezbollah leaders as “unacceptable from every perspective.”

“They are not official figures, and their pictures are being displayed in a city where most residents reject their policies,” Sadek said, noting that some Lebanese accuse them of involvement in the killing of their leader, Rafic Hariri.

“What is worse is that Hezbollah, which warns in its speeches against sliding into civil war, never misses an occasion to provoke the residents of the capital,” Sadek added.

He told Arab News that his opposing stance reflects that of Beirut’s residents, who saw this activity as “a provocation, which could have been avoided by proposing another location to hold the event.”

Beirut MP Nadim Gemayel said the Raouche Rock “is not an advertising billboard for any political party,” nor “a canvas” for symbolic displays that undermine Beirut’s identity. Rather, he said, it is public property and belongs to all the Lebanese people.

“Imposing Hezbollah’s symbols on the seafront is an exclusion of the Lebanese voice, especially the people of Beirut who reject the idea of weapons and domination.

“Beirut refuses to be reduced to one sect or political project.”

Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi, who previously served as minister of justice from 2014 to 2016 and as director general of the Internal Security Forces from 2005 to 2013, voiced his “categorical rejection of any attempt to use the Raouche Rock to promote slogans or positions rejected by the capital’s residents and unrepresentative of its identity.”

He said that Raouche Rock “is not only a natural landmark, but also the face of Beirut and Lebanon and a unifying national symbol in which all Lebanese take pride.”

“It is not a platform for unacceptable sectarianism,” he said.

Beirut MP and Lebanese Forces member Ghassan Hasbini said that the Raouche Rock should be draped “only in the nation’s colors and not in any other slogan.”

Beirut MP Nabil Badr said the landmark is a reflection of Beirut and Lebanon, and should not turn into a platform for hanging political pictures.

Beirut MP and Islamic Group member Imad Al-Hout said Beirut needs steps that unify the Lebanese instead of initiatives that deepen the division.

Meanwhile, Beirut MP Fouad Makhzoumi described the move as “provocative and unauthorized.”

However, Qassem Qassir, political writer with expertise in Islamic movements and close ties to Hezbollah, described the state of provocation that accompanied Hezbollah’s proposal as “a case of politicians exploiting a non-existent issue.”

Qassir told Arab News: “people in Beirut welcomed their brothers fleeing from the southern suburb and the south into their homes during the last Israeli war, and I don’t think they will object to the hanging of pictures, for just a few minutes, of two leaders who are no longer with us.”

Hezbollah is facing mounting pressure to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese army amid broad Lebanese support for the government’s decision to restrict weapons to the state’s authority.

The group said it was reorganizing its internal structure and working to restore its partisan capacity following the significant blow it sustained during last year’s war with Israel.

Recent reports in Lebanese media indicated that the privileges previously granted to Hezbollah officials and Palestinian factions have been suspended after a decision by Lebanon’s security and military authorities.

They reported that the use of facilitation cards issued by Hezbollah’s Security Committee — which previously granted holders freedom of movement and priority access — has been permanently suspended, in line with the cabinet’s decision to restrict weapons exclusively to state institutions.