Damascus — The European Union backs a peaceable, inclusive transition in Syria, high French and German diplomats mentioned Friday as they visited Damascus to satisfy with new chief Ahmed al-Sharaa.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock have been within the Syrian capital for talks on behalf of the European Union, within the highest-level go to by main Western powers since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad final month.
One of their first stops was the infamous Sednaya jail, not removed from the capital.
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Accompanied by White Helmet rescuers, Barrot and Baerbock toured the cells and underground dungeons of Sednaya, which for many years stood as a fearsome image of the atrocities dedicated towards Assad’s opponents.
The jail was the positioning of extrajudicial executions, torture and compelled disappearances. An advocacy group mentioned greater than 4,000 individuals have been free of the detention facility when insurgent forces took Damascus on December 8. Countless different inmates — each criminals and Assad opponents — merely vanished after being incarcerated there.
In 2017, the U.S. State Department mentioned the Assad regime was utilizing a crematorium at Sednaya to get rid of useless our bodies in an effort to “cover up” the mass murders it was carrying on the market.
“Fragile hope” for a “steady and peaceable” Syria
Sharaa, head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led the offensive that toppled Assad. The HTS-dominated interim authorities now face the daunting activity of rebuilding state establishments, with rising calls to make sure an inclusive transition and assure minority rights.
Barrot, in Damascus, expressed hope for a “sovereign, steady and peaceable” Syria.
It was additionally a “hope that the aspirations of all Syrians will be realized,” he added, “however it’s a fragile hope.”
In a press release, Baerbock mentioned Germany needed to assist Syria grow to be a “protected dwelling” for all its individuals, and a “functioning state, with full management over its territory.”
She mentioned the go to was a “clear sign” to Damascus of the chance for a brand new relationship between Syria and Germany, and Europe extra broadly.
The European diplomats’ closed assembly with Sharaa Friday lasted about an hour and a half, they usually left with out giving any assertion to journalists.
Earlier, in a publish in X, Barrot mentioned: “Together, France and Germany stand alongside the Syrian individuals, in all their variety.”
He added that the 2 European powers needed to advertise a “peaceable transition” to a brand new authorities within the nation.
Despite “skepticism” about HTS — which was beforehand the Syrian department of al-Qaeda and stays designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and quite a few different governments — Baerbock mentioned that “we should not miss the chance to assist the Syrian individuals at this vital crossroads.”
Sharaa has distanced himself and HTS from al-Qaeda in recent times, and the group’s public statements have steered plans to respect Syria’s myriad non secular teams.
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The Biden administration mentioned after Assad fled to Russia that the U.S. might acknowledge a brand new Syrian authorities below sure circumstances. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned the brand new management and the transition course of should make sure the safety of Syria’s minority teams, a move of humanitarian assist into the nation, stop Syria from getting used as a base for terrorist organizations, and assist be sure that any chemical and organic weapons are secured and destroyed.
Baerbock mentioned Friday that Berlin stood able to assist “an inclusive and peaceable switch of energy” in addition to social “reconciliation” in Syria.
She additionally requested the brand new regime to keep away from “acts of vengeance towards teams inside the inhabitants,” to keep away from a protracted delay earlier than elections, and to avert any makes an attempt on the “Islamization” of the judicial and training techniques.
Since Assad’s ousting, a bevy of international envoys have travelled to Damascus to satisfy with the nation’s new leaders. France and Germany had each already despatched lower-level delegations final month.
At the beginning of his go to, Barrot met with representatives of Syria’s Christian communities. Diplomatic sources mentioned Barrot informed the Christian leaders that France was dedicated to a pluralistic Syria with equal rights for all, together with minority teams.
Syria’s civil struggle — which began in 2011 with the Assad authorities’s brutal repression of pro-democracy protests — noticed Germany, France and a number of different nations shutter their diplomatic missions in Damascus.
The battle killed greater than 500,000 individuals, displaced hundreds of thousands and left Syria fragmented and ravaged.
The new authorities have known as for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Syria below Assad to permit for reconstruction.
Paris is because of host a global summit on Syria later this month, following an identical assembly in December in Jordan.
