‘We admire Saudi vision, aspire for similar progress in Syria,’ says Al-Sharaa

Asharq Al-Awsat journalist Bissane El-Chiekh interviewing Al-Sharaa. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Asharq Al-Awsat journalist Bissane El-Chiekh interviewing Al-Sharaa. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Updated 20 December 2024
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‘We admire Saudi vision, aspire for similar progress in Syria,’ says Al-Sharaa

‘We admire Saudi vision, aspire for similar progress in Syria,’ says Al-Sharaa
  • Head of HTS says he seeks no dominance over Lebanon

DAMASCUS: Ahmed Al-Sharaa, the head of the new Syrian administration, praised progress made by Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf countries in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat published on Friday.

Speaking to the newspaper’s Bissane El-Cheikh at the Presidential Palace in Damascus on Thursday, he lauded the Gulf’s development, saying: “We admire the development in Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia’s bold plans and vision, and we aspire to achieve similar progress for Syria.”

He added: “There are many opportunities for cooperation, especially in economic and developmental areas, where we can align our goals.”

During the interview, he also said that “the Syrian revolution ended with the regime's fall, and we will not allow it to spread elsewhere.”

Al-Sharaa stressed that Syria “will not be used to attack or destabilize any Arab or Gulf country.”

He said the Syrian opposition’s actions had “set the Iranian project in the region back by 40 years.”

Asked why Syria has yet to send a direct message to the Gulf and major Arab nations, Al-Sharaa responded by saying that his country has much to say to its Arab neighbors.

“Syria had become a platform for Iran to control key Arab capitals, spread wars, and destabilize the Gulf with drugs like Captagon,” he said.

He added: “By removing Iranian militias and closing Syria to Iranian influence, we’ve served the region’s interests—achieving what diplomacy and external pressure could not, with minimal losses.”

Al-Sharaa also criticized efforts to restore ties with the former Syrian regime, including its return to the Arab League in exchange for concessions.

“We were confident this would fail because we knew the regime would not make any genuine concessions or approach these overtures in good faith,” he said.

He claimed that during a meeting with Jordanian officials, the former regime was asked why it insisted on exporting Captagon to Jordan.

“The response was that it would not stop unless sanctions were lifted," Al-Sharaa said, adding “this is not how the regime operates.”

He emphasized that Gulf strategic security has since improved. “Today, the Iranian project in the region has been pushed back 40 years, making the Gulf more secure and stable.”

When asked if he would give reassurances on Syria not becoming a refuge for certain figures, Al-Sharaa dismissed concerns about hosting figures who cause concern for some Arab nations, saying Syria will not become a haven for controversial individuals.

“We are now focused on state-building. The revolution ended with the regime's fall, and we will not allow it to spread elsewhere. Syria will not be a platform to threaten or unsettle any Arab or Gulf country,” he said.

Al-Sharaa stressed that Syria seeks to rebuild and strengthen ties with Arab nations. “Syria is tired of wars and being used for others’ agendas. We want to restore trust and rebuild our country as part of the Arab world.”

On Syria’s relationship with its neighbor Lebanon, Al-Sharaa acknowledged concerns raised by Lebanese counterparts about him reaching Damascus, fearing it could strengthen one faction over another in Lebanon.

“We are not seeking any form of dominance over Lebanon,” he said. “We want a relationship based on mutual respect and exchange, without interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs. We have enough work to do in our own country.”

Al-Sharaa emphasized Syria’s intention to maintain balanced relations, saying he aims “to stand equally with all Lebanese groups, and what pleases them, pleases us.”

Al-Sharaa was asked about a national dialogue conference and a new constitution to guide Syria’s future, and the mechanism that he plans to ensure inclusivity for all Syrians in the process, especially among the base of supporters and fighters who do not necessarily agree with his current moderate speech.

Al-Sharaa acknowledged differing opinions but emphasized he does not want to impose his personal views on Syrians.

“I believe in letting legal experts shape the relationship between citizens, with the law as the guide,” he said.

“Syria is diverse, and it's natural for there to be different opinions. This difference is healthy.”

Al-Sharaa stressed that the recent victory is for all Syrians, not one group over another.

“Even those we thought were loyal to the old regime expressed joy, as they had not been able to openly express their feelings before,” he noted.

He expressed confidence that Syrians, regardless of their background, are aware enough to protect their country.

“My aim is to reach a broad agreement and build a country where the rule of law helps resolve our differences,” Al-Sharaa concluded.

On the complex issue of forced disappearances and individuals missing in prisons and mass graves, Al-Sharaa said the previous regime was a criminal gang, not a political system.

“We fought a brutal group that committed crimes like arrests, forced disappearances, killings, displacement, starvation, chemical attacks, and torture,” he said.

He stressed that while the regime is gone, the focus should be on justice, not revenge.

“We must not approach this with a desire for vengeance,” he said.

Al-Sharaa stated that those responsible for crimes like the Saydnaya prison and chemical attacks must be held accountable.

“Their names are known and they must be pursued,” he said. He also affirmed that families have the right to file complaints against unknown perpetrators.

Al-Sharaa outlined efforts to address the issue of missing persons. “We’ve broken the barriers, and specialized organizations are now helping with this task,” he said.

A new ministry will be set up to track the fate of the missing, both the deceased and the living.

“This will also assist families with documents like death certificates and inheritance,” he added.

He acknowledged the challenge ahead but emphasized the need to uncover the truth. “This is a big task, but we must find the truth,” Al-Sharaa said.

When asked about hosting the interview at the People’s Palace, the same location where Bashar al-Assad once sat, Al-Sharaa responded with a light-hearted laugh.

“To be honest, I don’t feel comfortable at all,” he said. “But this is a place that should be open to the people, a site where they can visit and where children can play in these courtyards.”

* This article was originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat and can be read here.


Sudan’s military says it has retaken the last area of the capital held by rival paramilitary forces

Sudan’s military says it has retaken the last area of the capital held by rival paramilitary forces
Updated 57 min 9 sec ago
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Sudan’s military says it has retaken the last area of the capital held by rival paramilitary forces

Sudan’s military says it has retaken the last area of the capital held by rival paramilitary forces
  • Social media videos showed its soldiers inside giving the date as the 21st day of Ramadan, which was Friday.
  • The war has killed more than 28,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes

CAIRO: Sudan’s military said it retook the Republican Palace in Khartoum, the last bastion in the capital of rival paramilitary forces, after nearly two years of fighting.
Social media videos showed its soldiers inside giving the date as the 21st day of Ramadan, which was Friday.
The fall of the Republican Palace — a compound along the Nile River that was the seat of government before the war erupted and is immortalized on Sudanese banknotes and postage stamps — marks another battlefield gain for Sudan’s military. It has made steady advances in recent months under army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.
It means the rival Rapid Support Forces, under Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have been expelled from the capital of Khartoum after Sudan’s war began in April 2023.
The RSF did not immediately acknowledge the loss, which likely won’t stop fighting in the war as the group and its allies still hold territory elsewhere in Sudan. The head of the UN children’s agency has said the conflict created the world’s largest and humanitarian crisis.
The war has killed more than 28,000 people, forced millions to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine sweeps parts of the country. Other estimates suggest a far higher death toll.


Tunisian president sacks prime minister amid economic and migration crisis

Tunisian president sacks prime minister amid economic and migration crisis
Updated 21 March 2025
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Tunisian president sacks prime minister amid economic and migration crisis

Tunisian president sacks prime minister amid economic and migration crisis
  • North African country’s public finances face a severe crisis that has led to shortages of key commodities including sugar, rice and coffee.
  • The country also is facing widespread criticism over an unprecedented migrant crisis

TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked Prime Minister Kamel Maddouri less than a year after his appointment, and named Sara Zaafarani as his replacement, amid a faltering economy and a worsening flood of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa countries.
Zaafarani, who is an engineer and served as minister of Equipment and Housing since 2021, is the third prime minister in less than two years.
In recent months, Saied has sharply criticized the performance of ministers, saying many they have not met the required standards and that the expectations of the Tunisian people are high. Last, month he sacked Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri.
Economic growth has not exceeded 1.4 percent in the past year, and the North African country’s public finances face a severe crisis that has led to shortages of key commodities including sugar, rice and coffee.
“We will continue the liberation battle until justice prevails for all citizens ... We will continue to thwart all conspiracies,” Saied said in a speech at a National Security Council meeting on Friday.
The country also is facing widespread criticism over an unprecedented migrant crisis, as thousands of sub-Saharan African migrants are flocking to Tunisia seeking to reach the Italian coast.
Thousands of them are living in tents in forests in Amra and Jbeniana after authorities prevented them from reaching Europe by sea.
While the migrants frequently clash with local residents who want them deported from their area, local human rights groups accuse the authorities of racist rhetoric and incitement against migrants.
Saied seized extra powers in 2021 when he shut down the elected parliament and moved to rule by decree before assuming authority over the judiciary.
The opposition described the move as a coup.


Netanyahu government approves firing of Shin Bet head amid protests

Netanyahu government approves firing of Shin Bet head amid protests
Updated 21 March 2025
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Netanyahu government approves firing of Shin Bet head amid protests

Netanyahu government approves firing of Shin Bet head amid protests
  • Netanyahu had said he had lost confidence in Shin Bet head
  • Police fire water cannon, make arrests after scuffles

JERUSALEM: The Israeli cabinet voted early on Friday to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service effective April 10, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, after three days of protests against the move.
Netanyahu said this week he had lost confidence in Ronen Bar, who has led Shin Bet since 2021, and intended to dismiss him.
Bar did not attend the cabinet meeting but in a letter sent to ministers said the process around his firing did not comply with rules and his dismissal was predicated on baseless claims.
Late on Thursday, police fired water cannon and made numerous arrests as scuffles broke out during the protests in Tel Aviv and close to the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, where police said dozens of protesters tried to break through security cordons.
Over the past three days, demonstrators protesting the move to sack Bar have joined forces with protesters angry at the decision to resume fighting in Gaza, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire, while 59 Israeli hostages remain in the Palestinian enclave.
“We’re very, very worried that our country is becoming a dictatorship,” Rinat Hadashi, 59, said in Jerusalem. “They’re abandoning our hostages, they’re neglecting all the important things for this country.”
The decision followed months of tension between Bar and Netanyahu over a corruption investigation into allegations that a number of aides in Netanyahu’s office were offered bribes.
Netanyahu has dismissed the accusation as a politically motivated attempt to unseat him, but his critics have accused him of undermining the institutions underpinning Israel’s democracy by seeking Bar’s removal.
In his letter to the government, Bar said the decision to fire him was “entirely tainted by ... conflicts of interest” and driven by “completely different, extraneous and fundamentally unacceptable motives.”
He had already announced that he intended to step down early to take responsibility for the intelligence lapses that failed to prevent the attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Deep divisions
The angry scenes on Thursday highlighted divisions that have deepened since Netanyahu returned to power as head of a right-wing coalition at the end of 2022.
Even before the war in Gaza, tens of thousands of Israelis were joining regular demonstrations protesting a government drive to curb the power of the judiciary that critics saw as an assault on Israeli democracy but which the government said was needed to limit judicial overreach.
On Thursday Yair Golan, a former deputy chief of staff in the military who now leads the opposition Democrats party, was pushed to the ground during a scuffle, drawing condemnation and calls for an investigation by other opposition politicians.
Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the clashes were a direct result of divisions caused by “an extremist government that has lost its grip.”
In Tel Aviv, demonstrators rallied outside the Kirya military headquarters complex as ministers met to formally approve the dismissal of Bar.
Since the start of the war, there have also been regular protests by families and supporters of hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 attack that have sometimes echoed the criticisms of the government.
With the resumption of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, the fate of 59 hostages, as many as 24 of whom are still believed to be alive, remains unclear and protesters said a return to war could see them either killed by their captors or accidentally by Israeli bombardments.
“This is not an outcome the Israeli people can accept,” The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing hostage families, said in a statement.


UN official bemoans ‘endless’ suffering in Gaza after renewed Israeli strikes

UN official bemoans ‘endless’ suffering in Gaza after renewed Israeli strikes
Updated 21 March 2025
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UN official bemoans ‘endless’ suffering in Gaza after renewed Israeli strikes

UN official bemoans ‘endless’ suffering in Gaza after renewed Israeli strikes
  • “We are fearing that the worst is yet to come,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X
  • Israeli strikes since Tuesday have killed at least 504, including children, says Gaza civil defense agency

JERUSALEM: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Thursday there were fears “the worst is yet to come” in Gaza, denouncing “endless” suffering after Israel renewed deadly air and ground operations.
“Israeli Forces bombardment continues from air & sea for the third day,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.
“We are fearing that the worst is yet to come given the ongoing ground invasion separating the north from the south.”
Israel announced renewed ground operations in Gaza on Wednesday and issued what it called a “last warning” to residents of the territory to return hostages and remove Hamas from power.
Heavy air strikes began pounding Gaza early on Tuesday, killing at least 504 people including more than 190 children, according to the civil defense agency in the Hamas-run territory.
Gaza rescuers said at least 10 more people were killed in a pre-dawn bombing near Khan Yunis on Thursday.
“Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again & again going through their worst nightmare,” Lazzarini wrote, condemning an “endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals.”
The Israeli army said on Thursday it had banned traffic on the Palestinian territory’s main north-to-south artery.
“Evacuation orders forcing people to flee were issued impacting tens of thousands of people,” Lazzarini said, adding that “the vast majority have been already displaced, treated like ‘pinballs’ since the war began nearly 1.5 years ago.”
Israel’s renewed offensive shattered a relative calm in Gaza that had pervaded since a fragile truce took hold in mid-January.
The UNRWA chief also decried Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza which has been in place since early March.
“No time left, we need now: a renewal of the ceasefire, a dignified release of all the hostages in Gaza, an unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid & commercial supplies,” he said.
The first stage of the Gaza ceasefire, which largely halted more than 15 months of fighting, expired early this month amid deadlock over next steps.
Israel rejected negotiations for a promised second stage, calling instead for the return of all of its remaining hostages under an extended first stage.
That would have meant delaying talks on a lasting ceasefire, and was rejected by Hamas as an attempt to renegotiate the original deal.
 


Jordan’s Senate speaker criticizes Western ‘double standards’ on democracy at Strasbourg conference

Jordan’s Senate speaker criticizes Western ‘double standards’ on democracy at Strasbourg conference
Updated 21 March 2025
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Jordan’s Senate speaker criticizes Western ‘double standards’ on democracy at Strasbourg conference

Jordan’s Senate speaker criticizes Western ‘double standards’ on democracy at Strasbourg conference
  • Faisal Al-Fayez stresses democracy is shared responsibility 

STRASBOURG: Jordan’s Senate Speaker Faisal Al-Fayez on Thursday accused Western nations of adopting “double standards” on democracy and public freedoms, arguing that true democratic values required consistency and commitment to human rights.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, Al-Fayez stressed that democracy was a shared responsibility that upheld citizens’ rights, equality, and social justice. However, he warned that some Western nations failed to apply these principles uniformly.

“The reality confirms that the West has begun to adopt a policy of double standards regarding issues of public freedoms and democratic practice,” he said.

The two-day conference is set to cover a range of topics, including the protection of democracy, freedom of expression, and the impact of current global political and security challenges.

Al-Fayez argued that sustaining democracy required political and security stability, as well as a rejection of selective approaches to human rights. He called for a commitment to defending international organizations and institutions that uphold justice, rather than interfering in their principles for political gain.

He said: “We must implement international legitimacy resolutions pertaining to people’s rights to freedom and independence, reject racism and sectarianism, and respect minorities’ rights while also working to strengthen common cultural and civilizational denominators among peoples.”

Al-Fayez also addressed the impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinians, criticizing what he described as Western hypocrisy in dealing with human rights violations.

He added: “The Palestinian people have endured nearly eight decades of suffering under Israeli occupation, and since Oct. 7, 2023, they have been the target of the most horrific acts of aggression by the Israeli occupation state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded, primarily women and children, have died as a result of this aggression.”

Additionally, Al-Fayez voiced concerns over the role of social media in amplifying disinformation, hate speech, and extremism. He warned that while these platforms were initially intended to promote public freedoms, they have instead exacerbated societal divisions, leading to political instability in various countries.

He said: “Social media, which is meant to support freedom of expression, freedom of publication, and public freedoms, has regrettably added to the problems that democracy faces. It has encouraged hate speech, bigotry, violence, religious and ethnic strife, and the use of disinformation campaigns to rig elections and their results.”

He highlighted growing discontent with democratic institutions due to economic and technological disparities between the Global North and South, as well as widening social and economic inequalities.

He added: “All of these factors have put democracy and its future through a difficult test.”