In UN debut, new Syrian leader warns on Israel but backs dialogue

FRANCE 24 English

Syria's new leader warned on Wednesday that Israel's persistent attacks put the region at risk, but he backed diplomacy as he won support on his UN debut. Ahmed al-Sharaa is the first Syrian president to address the annual UN General Assembly in decades, marking a rapid transformation for a former jihadist who until last year had a US bounty on his head. We speak to Aaron Y. Zelin, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00This is apropos. Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world,

00:09says Ahmed al-Sharah, as he becomes the first president of his country to address the UN

00:14General Assembly in almost 60 years. He used the speech to hit out at Israel for continuing

00:20its strikes on Syria despite the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad last December,

00:25and he appealed to the international community for its support. With the details, here's Eliza

00:32Herbert. Ahmed al-Sharah has declared his country is reclaiming its rightful place among the world.

00:40He is the first Syrian president to address the United Nations General Assembly in almost

00:45six decades, and with it he heralded in a new chapter in foreign relations while calling for

00:52one significant change. Through intensive diplomatic activities, Syria has restored international

01:01relations and forged regional and global partnerships and achieved the gradual lifting

01:05of most sanctions. We now call for the complete lifting of sanctions so they no longer shackle

01:11the Syrian people. During the address, al-Sharah lamented the past 60 years of the Assad family's

01:18autocratic rule, and cited the regime's killing and torturing of innocent people as justification

01:24for overthrowing Bashar al-Assad.

01:27The people had no means and choice but to organize themselves, and to organize militarily to oust a

01:36criminal regime.

01:37Al-Sharah's previous affiliations with al-Qaeda still have him designated as a terrorist by both

01:44the United States and the United Nations. It is a public image he has been looking to shift.

01:50He says his government is uprooting sectarianism, and that under his leadership his country can

01:55be an opportunity for peace in the region. But he needs the international community's support

02:01to manage his neighbour.

02:03The Syrian President wrapped up his speech to a rupture of applause from some in the audience.

02:24As he said, his people know the horrors of war and destruction. And for that, they stand

02:29firmly with the people of Gaza.

02:34For more, let's bring in Aaron Y. Zelen. He's a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute

02:39for Near East Policy. Aaron, thanks for being with us on the programme this evening. So as

02:44we say, the first Syrian leader to take the podium at such a gathering in nearly six decades.

02:50Just how significant for you was this address?

02:54I think it's huge for Syria as a country, for its people to highlight that it's once again

03:01back on the world stage, not only 14 years after the civil war, but also 54 years after

03:08the rule of the Assad family, which ruled in a totalitarian manner. And for, you know, the

03:14President of Syria, Ahmed al-Shara, as well as many of supporters, they believe that this

03:19is a new beginning for them.

03:21And remind us, why exactly did Syrian leaders stop addressing the United Nations? And was

03:26it just at forums like this?

03:31A lot of it had to do primarily with the fact that there were so many sanctions against the

03:36country, but also, you know, they're shunned in many ways by the United States. If you recall,

03:43Syria was the first country that was named as a state sponsor of terrorism. And so they've

03:49always had a poor relationship with the United States. And of course, a lot of decisions even

03:54related to the UN, the US has a check on.

03:56Well, let's talk a little bit about Ahmed al-Shara then, because you mentioned terrorism. He's

04:01still actually on a UN sanctions list for terrorism. He's quite different really from most of the

04:06other world leaders who would have been gathered in that hall today, isn't he?

04:10Yeah. I mean, he had to get a special dispensation to travel to New York City and to address the UN

04:19General Assembly as a consequence of still having sanctions related to terrorism from the UN Security

04:27Council. And the only way to change that is there for it to be a unanimous agreement between the five

04:35countries. And so while the U.S. has called for this to happen, countries like China have

04:41been apprehensive because there's a number of Chinese Uyghur foreign fighters that are within

04:47the new Syrian military. And so in many ways, it's a battle between, you know, these countries on

04:54whether this happens or not. But for now, at least, there's been this special dispensation to allow

05:01him to speak on behalf of his country. Well, apart then from reclaiming Syria's rightful place,

05:06as he put it, among the nations of the world, what were his priorities there today?

05:13I think part of it is to try and reintroduce Syria to the world under his rule, now nine and a half

05:20months since the fall of the Assad regime. Two is to highlight sort of the suffering that they're

05:26dealing with and what they're trying to overcome now through reconstruction, rebuilding the economy,

05:30and noting that, you know, they've been able to develop a lot of relations with many countries,

05:36such as Turkey, the Gulf states, the U.S., Europe and others, and that they're beginning the process

05:42of trying to heal the country through developing a transitional justice commission, even if many

05:50might be skeptical of it, considering the fact that the government or forces adjacent to the government

05:56since the fall of the regime have also been involved in two massacres, one against Alawites

06:01in March, and then the more recent one two months ago in July against Cherus. And so it's a complicated

06:06picture. Yeah. And our tensions then still extremely high following that deadly violence. How has al-Sharam

06:14managed to actually integrate people back into Syrian society?

06:17Well, they've, you know, developed transitional government. They're in the process of trying to

06:27do an electoral process. Obviously, it's more of an indirect election than sort of a representative

06:34election that you typically see in, say, a Western country. They've also been doing a lot of dialogues

06:40with many different communities. But some people are still skeptical of his rule and therefore are

06:47holding out for now. But if you're just on the ground on, say, a day-to-day basis, it seems relatively

06:55normal considering the fact that many are worried about, you know, security and things along those

07:01lines. You don't feel as if there's any problems. And I was just there last week, so.

07:07And what were your impressions of how the country has changed then since the fall of the dictator back

07:13in December? I think last week compared to when I was there in April, there's possibly more of a

07:22disconnect between the government and the new elite and many just average regular residents. In some ways,

07:30there's a new bubble in Damascus. And so while many are happy that there are a lot more freedoms now

07:36and that they're not being randomly harassed, they also don't feel that they know how to deal with

07:44any problems they have in their life or grievances that they have and how to rectify it through the

07:48government. And so there's definitely some more alienation on the ground than maybe there was

07:55five months ago when I was there. And there's also ongoing tension with Israel, of course. We're

07:59hearing tonight about those talks involving the US and Israel and Syria over a potential security

08:06arrangement. What would that actually result in, do you think? Will it see Israel stopping

08:12these attacks on Syria and withdrawing troops from the south of the country?

08:16As far as I'm aware, many describe it as sort of a 1974 plus agreement, since there originally was

08:26the 1974 border agreement between the former Assad regime in Israel after the 1973 war. But the Israelis

08:33want to keep the rest of the Hermon mountain. And I've talked about withdrawing from the zone that was

08:40created between the two territories, which they took over after December 8th. But they also want to secure

08:46support for the Druze in the southwest and Sweda as well. At the same time, when I was there last

08:53week, I had the opportunity to actually speak with Shara. And he said that even if they have a deal,

08:59they aren't sure that they'll trust that the Israelis won't violate it in the same way that we've seen

09:03that even though there was a ceasefire in Lebanon now for months, we still see Israel being involved in

09:09some airstrikes here and there. But at the same time, Syria is not in a very advantageous position because

09:15the country has been destroyed by 14 years of war. And Israel does have military supremacy in this area.

09:22And without then that kind of a basic trust that you would presume would be

09:26fundamental when you're putting in place an agreement with a nation such as Israel,

09:31how does Al-Shara, how did he tell you that he thinks all of that is going to actually work out?

09:35I think part of it will come down to whether the U.S. can help guarantee this deal on some level.

09:45But at the same time, in the aftermath of the recent Israeli strike on Hamas figures in Qatar,

09:50people are also questioning whether the U.S. is to be trusted as well. And so, you know, Syria is not in

09:57the best position. In many ways, they're at the whims of what Israel wants or plans to do. And

10:04therefore, that's why some, you know, are skeptical that, you know, even if there is a deal, it'll lead

10:11to complete, you know, stoppage of any hostilities by the Israelis against whatever they're trying to

10:18accomplish in Syria, which many still are not quite sure what they're doing at this point.

10:22And when it comes to the U.S., is there still, you know, a large degree of wariness there about Al-Shara's

10:30jihadist past? And do you think he's going to succeed in convincing Washington to reduce,

10:36to get rid of the remaining sanctions that are in place against Syria?

10:42I think for people in Trump's team, they're full speed ahead. There was a policy review after the

10:50massacre in Sueda. However, they are going forward with a very good relationship and see it as

10:57as an opportunity for U.S. business as well as a deep security relationship. We recently just saw

11:03the commander of U.S. Central Command meeting with Shara. There's more apprehension amongst some members

11:10of Congress, especially those that are in the pro-Israel camp. And so, there's a give and take now

11:16between sort of the executive branch and some people in Congress. But generally speaking,

11:21the approach of Trump himself has been to undo all sanctions related to Syria. It just maybe might

11:28take a little bit more time than originally planned as a consequence in the aftermath of what happened in

11:35Sueda. Aaron Weisel, and thanks so much for being with us on the program this evening. We do appreciate your time.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended