Syria's new foreign minister to appear at the UN in his first US visit
[April 25, 2025]
By ABBY SEWELL
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani was set to raise
his country’s new flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York
Friday and to attend a U.N. Security Council briefing, the first public
appearance by a high-ranking Syrian government official in the United
States since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning
rebel offensive in December.
The three-starred flag that had previously been used by opposition
groups has replaced the two-starred flag of the Assad era as the
country's official emblem.
The new authorities in Damascus have been courting Washington in hopes
of receiving relief from harsh sanctions that were imposed by the U.S.
and its allies in the wake of Assad’s brutal crackdown on
anti-government protests in 2011 that spiraled into a civil war.
A delegation of Syrian officials traveled to the United States this week
to attend World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in
Washington and U.N. meetings in New York. It was unclear if Trump
administration officials would meet with al-Shibani during the visit.
The Trump administration has yet to officially recognize the current
Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, an Islamist former insurgent
who led the offensive that toppled Assad. Washington has also so far
left the sanctions in place, although it has provided temporary relief
to some restrictions. The militant group al-Sharaa led, Hayat Tahrir
al-Sham, remains a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
Two Republican members of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of
Indiana and Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, arrived in Damascus last week on
an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit and met
with al-Sharaa and other government officials.
[to top of second column]
|
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani arrives for the
International Conference on Syria at the Ministerial Conference
Center, in Paris, France, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Bertrand Guay,
Pool Photo via AP, file)
Mills told The Associated Press before meeting with al-Sharaa that
“ultimately, it’s going to be the president’s decision” to lift
sanctions or not, although he said that “Congress can advise.”
Mills later told Bloomberg News that he had discussed the U.S.
conditions for sanctions relief with al-Sharaa, including ensuring
the destruction of chemical weapons left over from the Assad era,
coordinating on counter-terrorism, making a plan to deal with
foreign militants who fought alongside the armed opposition to
Assad, and providing assurances to Israel that Syria would not pose
a threat.
He also said that al-Sharaa had said Syria could normalize relations
with Israel “under the right conditions,” without specifying what
those conditions are.
Other Western countries have warmed up to the new Syrian authorities
more quickly. The British government on Thursday lifted sanctions
against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments
and media outlets, and the European Union has begun to roll back its
sanctions.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
