Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf has chosen her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
As Western countries and regional powers push for a peaceful transition in Syria, the United States has been in direct contact with the Islamist movement that spearheaded the offensive to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, despite being designated as a terrorist organization. There is.
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken became the first US official to acknowledge that Washington had been in contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who took control of Damascus.
After meeting with regional stakeholders in Jordan, he said the U.S. and its allies had agreed to a “set of common principles” to guide assistance in Syria, including a “comprehensive and representative” It also includes a Syrian-led political transition that respects minorities, he said.
Blinken said the principles had been “transmitted” to the country’s new leaders.
“As we watch Syria move in that direction and take these steps in a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned process, we will also consider the various sanctions and other measures that we have taken and will respond similarly. “I intend to do so,” he said. .
The United States, United Nations, and European Union have all designated HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, as a terrorist organization.
The group’s leader, Abu Mohammed Jolani, was designated a terrorist 10 years ago and has a $10 million bounty on his head from the United States. Jolani renounced his ties to al-Qaeda in 2016 and has sought to rebrand himself as a more moderate Islamist leader.
The United States and other Western countries have also imposed sanctions on the Syrian state, which has been fractured by more than 13 years of civil war and decades of corrupt and repressive rule by the Assad regime.
Western and regional powers rapidly deploy in Syria after HTS leads a blitzkrieg that ends the Assad family’s 50-year dynastic rule in the war-torn Arab nation in less than two weeks. I am in a hurry to respond to the situation. .
After marching into Damascus with other rebel groups last weekend, HTS named an interim prime minister to lead an interim government until March. It has repeatedly promised to protect minorities.
The ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, who defected to Russia, caused scenes of jubilation across Syria, but also uncertainty about what will happen next.
Blinken said the United States “appreciates some of the positive words we’ve heard in recent days, but what really matters is action and sustained action.”
“This is not a one-day decision or one-day event. It really has to be sustained over time,” Blinken said.
Syria has been devastated by years of war and authoritarian rule, and the challenges it faces are significant. The economy is in collapse, the civil war has forced millions of people from their homes, and many more are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
It is also a country with a diverse mix of religions and sects, and multiple armed groups.
Blinken said fuel and wheat were in short supply, adding that the United States and its partners would focus on “short-term needs.”
Syria under the Assad regime relied on Iran, which supported the regime in the civil war, for most of its oil imports. However, as rebel forces advanced on Damascus, the Iranian government pulled thousands of Iranians out of the country.
The company imports wheat from Russia, which also supported President Bashar al-Assad during the conflict that erupted after his regime brutally suppressed a 2011 uprising.
The United States has about 900 troops in Syria, helping fight ISIS and assisting Kurdish-led insurgents in their fight against the jihadist group.
Turkey views Kurdish fighters as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting the Turkish state for 40 years.
While the Turkish government is coordinating with HTS in attacking Assad, it is also supporting Syrian rebels who are also fighting Kurdish militants.
Blinken said the situation in Syria is a “vulnerable moment when ISIS may seek to rally.”
