DAMASCUS: France raised its flag at its Damascus embassy on Tuesday for the first time in 12 years and European Union officials prepared to engage with the new Syrian leadership, a sign of the growing contacts after Bashar Assad was ousted as president.
Western states are gradually opening channels to the new authorities in Damascus led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and its leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, though they continue to designate the group as terrorists.
As well as France and Britain, which sent a team to meet Sharaa on Monday, Germany is also planning meetings with the new administration and the European Union said on Tuesday it will also establish contacts.
Nine days after Assad was ousted, the new prime minister installed by Sharaa’s Islamist HTS group said the government was grappling with very low currency reserves and called for sanctions imposed on the ousted government to be lifted.
Sharaa’s group was part of Al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to a northwest corner of Syria for years until this month when the army melted away as it swept into Damascus.
France said its raising of the flag did not automatically mean it would reopen its embassy.
During his meeting with British officials, Sharaa, formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, called for countries to restore ties and lift sanctions on Syria to help refugees return home, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.
SANA released photos of Sharaa sitting in a suit with an open shirt during the meeting with the British. Sharaa “spoke about the need to build a state of law and institutions, and establishing security,” SANA reported. “He also spoke about Britain’s important role internationally.”
Assad’s fall, a blow to Syria’s longstanding Russian and Iranian allies, could potentially open the way for Western states to reopen contacts with Damascus. But for now at least, that requires manoeuvring around both the terrorism designation imposed on HTS during its days as an Al-Qaeda affiliate and financial sanctions imposed on Damascus under Assad.
German diplomats are also planning talks with representatives of HTS in Damascus on Tuesday, the German foreign ministry said. A German foreign ministry spokesperson said the talks would focus on a transitional process for Syria and the protection of minorities.
“The possibilities of a diplomatic presence in Damascus are also being explored there,” the spokesperson added in a statement, reiterating that Berlin was monitoring HTS closely in light of its roots in Al-Qaeda ideology.
“As far as one can tell, they have acted prudently so far,” the spokesperson said.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, whose country was the biggest backer of rebels during the civil war, said an inclusive administration was now needed in Damascus and called on the European Union to support the return of refugees.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher, the newly installed Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir said the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Syria has many ethnic and sectarian minority groups, some of whom have worried about how they might be treated under the rule of groups such as HTS with roots in Sunni Islamist militancy.
Asked what he would say to those worried about a single religious or political group dominating Syria, Bashir said: “Those who are afraid...of a religion trend or anything else don’t truly understand Islam, the forgiveness of Islam, the justice of Islam.”
“Syria is for all Syrians,” he said. “Everyone is a partner for us building the Syria of the future.”
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated government in Idlib province, has said he will remain in office until March.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday the European Union should be ready to ease sanctions on Syria if the country’s new leadership takes “positive steps” to establish an inclusive government and respect women’s and minority rights.
UN humanitarian coordinator Tom Fletcher said he had also met Sharaa, posting on social media: “we have basis for ambitious scaling up of vital humanitarian support” for Syria.
The Syrian conflict, which spiralled out of a 2011 uprising against Assad’s repressive rule, drove millions of Syrians abroad as refugees, including around 1 million who went to Germany.
France returns flag to Damascus embassy as new Syria authorities build contacts with West
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France returns flag to Damascus embassy as new Syria authorities build contacts with West
- UK sends team to meet Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and its leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa
- German diplomats also plan talks with representatives of HTS in Damascus
Yemeni Houthis warn Red Sea ‘hostile forces’ against aggression on Yemen during Gaza ceasefire
CAIRO: Yemeni Houthis in the early hours of Sunday warned what they called “hostile forces in the Red Sea” to avoid “any aggression” against Yemen a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hope and tears as youngest Israeli hostage turns two
- “Today, I tried to write a birthday message for Kfir for the second time,” his aunt Ofri Bibas Levy said
- Hamas said in November 2023 that the two boys and their mother were killed in an Israeli air strike, but the Israeli military has not confirmed their deaths
TEL AVIV: Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv to demand freedom for hostages held in Gaza, anxious the ceasefire deal would collapse, with many dwelling on the fate of Kfir Bibas, the youngest captive whose second birthday fell on Saturday.
“Today, I tried to write a birthday message for Kfir for the second time,” his aunt Ofri Bibas Levy said. “A message for a child who cannot celebrate... A child trapped in hell. A child who might not even be alive. But no words come out, only tears.”
Taken alongside his now four-year-old brother Ariel and his mother and father, Shiri and Yarden, he has become a symbol of the suffering of the hostages.
“I have two orange ballons on my car,” said Sigal Kirsch in Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square.” The color has become symbolic of the Bibas boys, both of whom are red-heads.
“I don’t have the words,” she said, visibly overcome with emotion.
Hamas said in November 2023 that the two boys and their mother were killed in an Israeli air strike, but the Israeli military has not confirmed their deaths.
Coming together to protest barely 12 hours before the first three hostages are due to be released, many couldn’t bring themselves to believe after so much false hope that the ordeal of the hostages might finally be over.
“Once they cross the (Gaza) border and they will be rejoined with their families then maybe we can breathe again,” said Shahar Mor Zahiro, the nephew of slain hostage Avraham Munder.
Anxiety was the overwhelming mood.
“This past week was hell,” said Kirsch, who had been every week to the gatherings at Hostage Square, across the road from Israeli military headquarters.
“On Tuesday we were sure that the deal would be signed... and it took until last night. So we’re very, very anxious,” she said.
The deal agreed between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, via mediators, is broken into three phases.
But, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under pressure from far-right elements of his government opposed to a ceasefire, protesters and families of the hostages expressed fears that the deal would collapse.
“In one sense (the mood) is a little more hopeful, and in another sense, it’s very sad. Because for the people who aren’t in the first phase, I can’t imagine how their hearts bleed at this point,” said Neil Trubowiz, 75, from Tel Aviv, in Hostage Square.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who opposed the deal, said he would remain in the government but that the prime minister had promised him the war would continue.
Mor Zahiro demanded that what he called “extremist elements” in the cabinet be prevented from collapsing the deal.
“Tell them to shut up!” he said. “Let the people come back to their loved ones.”
He denounced the idea that the war could start again. “Stop the fighting. Stop the war. Stop everything. Don’t shoot another bullet, let us heal. This is really crucial, otherwise there will be hell here for the next 50 years.”
On Saturday night, Netanyahu gave protesters and hostage families further cause for anxiety, saying the ceasefire deal could not go ahead until Hamas handed over a list of hostages to be released.
He also said in a televised address that Israel “reserved the right to return to war.”
Palestinian militants took 251 people hostage during Hamas’s surprise October 7 attack, 94 of whom remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
The lengthy ceasefire process, with the first 33 hostages released in small groups over 42 days, followed by a second and third phase that are still to be negotiated, leaves multiple opportunities for the process to collapse.
“We’re anticipating some good news tomorrow, but on the other hand, we’re very wary of what could happen in the meantime,” said Guy Perry, 58, also from Tel Aviv.
He described the possibility of a final end to the war and the return of all hostages as a “very, very dim light” at the end of the tunnel.
Despite their fears the deal could collapse at any moment, many couldn’t help but hope.
“I cannot wait to see my uncle, I really hope he managed to survive,” said Efrat Machikawa, whose uncle Gadi Moses turned 80 while held hostage in Gaza.
“I have to trust my hope. This has to happen, they have to come back.”
What we know about the Gaza hostage and prisoner exchange
- Israel’s Justice Ministry published their details early on Saturday, along with the ceasefire agreement, which said 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for each female hostage on Sunday
JERUSALEM: The ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is due to take effect from 8.30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on Sunday, following final approval of the deal by the Israeli government.
Thirty-three of the 98 remaining Israeli hostages, including women, children, men over 50 and ill and wounded captives, are to be freed over the course of the first phase of the ceasefire, due to last six weeks. Israel believes most are still alive but has received no confirmation from Hamas.
In return, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinians from its jails.
They include 737 male, female and teen-aged prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as of 1,167 Palestinians detained in Gaza since the start of the war and held in Israel.
Israel’s Justice Ministry published their details early on Saturday, along with the ceasefire agreement, which said 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for each female hostage on Sunday.
During the first phase of the ceasefire, the Israeli army will pull back from some of its positions in Gaza and Palestinians displaced from areas in northern Gaza will be allowed to return.
A second phase, exchanging the remaining hostages and completing the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza is expected to follow, depending on the results of negotiations, which will begin 16 days from the start of the ceasefire.
HOSTAGE AND PRISONER HANDOVER
On Sunday after 4 p.m. (1400 GMT), Israel will hand over 95 Palestinian prisoners and will receive three hostages in exchange. The prisoners to be released on the first day of the ceasefire do not include any prominent detainees, and many were recently detained and not tried or convicted.
The identity of the three hostages to be handed over is not yet known. The military says it will publish the names once they have received the hostages.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THEY ARE HANDED OVER?
The hostages will be handed by Hamas to Red Cross officials who will take them to the Israeli military in Gaza. The military has set up three locations near the northern, central and southern edges of Gaza in Erez, Re’im and Kerem Shalom to take charge of the hostages, according to the route they take out.
The hostages will be met there by medical staff, welfare specialists and psychologists to help with the initial transition before they are reunited with their families.
They will be taken by vehicle or helicopter to specialized facilities set up to receive them and help them adjust to returning from the trauma of 15 months in captivity. They will be kept away from the press and will receive medical and psychological support.
Hundreds rally in Tunisia to demand release of Saied critic
- Moussi, who had hoped to run in last year’s presidential election, stands accused of charges including “seeking to change the form of the state”
TUNIS: Hundreds demonstrated in the Tunisian capital on Saturday calling for the release of Abir Moussi, a critic of President Kais Saied jailed for more than a year.
The demonstrators shouted “freedom for Abir” and “we are opponents, not traitors” at the gathering in central Tunis, AFP journalists reported.
Moussi, 49, heads the Free Destourian Party, which critics accuse of seeking to restore the iron-fisted rule that Tunisians overthrew in the Arab Spring protests of 2011.
She has been in custody since her arrest in October 2023 outside the presidential palace where her party says she was seeking to lodge appeals against Saied’s decrees.
Moussi, who had hoped to run in last year’s presidential election, stands accused of charges including “seeking to change the form of the state.”
Saied was elected in 2019 but launched a sweeping power grab in 2021 and has since effectively ruled by decree.
In October, he was re-elected in a landslide after his main opponents were jailed.
Moussi was sentenced to 16 months in prison in November on charges of spreading “false news” after she criticized the electoral authority.
A leading figure in her party, Thameur Saad, said on Saturday that her conviction “is not worthy of a country that calls itself democratic.”
El-Sisi highlights Egypt’s commitment to Libyan unity
- Haftar’s last visit to Cairo was a few months before nationwide parliamentary and presidential elections that were later delayed due to disagreements over their legal framework
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday hosted Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar for their first meeting since September 2021.
El-Sisi’s office said that during their talks, he stressed Egypt’s commitment to “ensuring the unity and cohesion of Libya’s national institutions.”
He also urged “coordination between all Libyan parties to crystallize a comprehensive political roadmap” toward long-overdue parliamentary and presidential elections.
Haftar’s last visit to Cairo was a few months before nationwide parliamentary and presidential elections that were later delayed due to disagreements over their legal framework.
Libya, which borders Egypt to the east, is struggling to recover from years of conflict after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ended dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s four-decade rule.
The country remains split between the UN-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah in Tripoli and Haftar’s authority in the east.
El-Sisi on Saturday said “all foreign forces and mercenaries must be expelled from Libyan territory.”
