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.
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