https://arab.news/z3s7x
- Ahmed Al-Sharaa is the first Syrian leader to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York since 1967
- He already met US President Donald Trump in Riyadh and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris this year
DAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has departed for the United States, state media reported Sunday, on a landmark trip that will see the former insurgent address the United Nations General Assembly.
State television said Sharaa was en route “to the United States of America to participate in the affairs of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York,” citing a presidency statement.
Sharaa seized power in December after his Islamist group led a lightening offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad after nearly 14 years of civil war and more than half a century of brutal Assad family rule.
He is set to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York, the first Syrian leader to do so since Nureddin Al-Atassi in 1967.
Sharaa has undergone a dramatic transformation since taking power, meeting foreign leaders including US President Donald Trump in Riyadh and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on his first trip to the West.
In a pre-recorded interview broadcast on Sunday, Sharaa told US broadcaster CBS that “President Trump took a big step toward Syria by lifting the sanctions with a quick, courageous and historic decision.”
“He recognized that Syria should be safe, stable and unified.”
Trump lifted most US sanctions on Syria, which date back to the Syrian war and earlier, in the spring.
Sharaa added that anyone seeking to maintain sanctions on Syria “would be complicit in killing the Syrian people once again.”
He moreover criticized the international community for failing to halt the brutalities committed by Assad’s government.
He said “we should be the one asking others, why did you stand silent as these terrible crimes were taking place in Syria?“
Syria-Israel talks
The Syrian leader remains under UN sanctions and a travel ban due to his “jihadist past” and must request exemptions for all foreign trips.
His foreign minister, Asaad Al-Shaibani, is already in Washington for an official visit.
Shaibani’s office said he held a series of meetings since his arrival, including with US senators and state department officials.
He also met with the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, as the international community presses Syria’s new authorities to protect minorities in the multi-confessional country, which has seen sectarian bloodshed in recent months.
A foreign ministry official had said Shaibani aimed to discuss ongoing negotiations with Israel and the lifting of the remaining US sanctions on Syria.
Syria and Israel remain technically at war, but opened direct negotiations after Assad’s overthrow, and Syrian and Israeli officials have met on several occasions.
The foreign ministry official had said Syria expected to finalize security and military agreements with Israel this year, in what would be a breakthrough.
Israel has demanded a demilitarised zone in southern Syria.
Last week, Sharaa said Syria was negotiating with Israel to reach a security agreement that would see Israel leave the areas it occupied in recent months.