The new government of Syria is moving quickly to reach out to Europe, the UN, and the US to end Syria’s isolation ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
It’s possible that the Idlib-based leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham thought of this before it launched its offensive in late November. It knew it had to “go now” toward Damascus in the wake of Israel defeating Hezbollah and before the new US president takes office.Why? Putting in place a new government that appears responsible could lead the incoming US administration to take HTS off the terror list and thus lead to rapid engagement with Syria.
The new Syrian government is led by Abu Mohammed al-Julani. Since ousting Assad, Julani and his team appointed Mohammed al-Bashir as the prime minister on December 10, just two days after arriving in Damascus and toppling the regime. The old prime minister was escorted from his home to a hotel to seal the transfer of power.Two days later, delegations from Qatar and Turkey arrived in Damascus. The Turkish delegation was led by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin. Qatar’s delegation was led by Khalfan bin Ali bin Khalfan Al-Batty Al-Kaabi, head of the State Security Service.
Meeting the new administration
On December 16, the UN’s Syria envoy, Geir Pedersen, met with Syria’s new administration and Julani. They discussed the need to review Security Council Resolution 2254, Reuters reported. French special envoy for Syria Jean-François Guillaume also said on Tuesday that his country backs the Syrians in their transition.“France is preparing to be with Syrians for the long term,” he said. He is visiting Syria, and it appears France will hit the ground running with a large team in Damascus as things move quickly. France is the former colonial power of Syria.The EU is also moving to reopen its mission in Syria, according to EU foreign policy head Kaja Kallas, France 24 reported. German diplomats also arrived in Damascus this week, and it appears Italy will send a team as well.London was also quick to prepare meetings in Damascus. The UK Foreign Office moved to secure a meeting on Monday.According to the BBC, “British diplomats have held talks with the leader of the Syrian rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, following its ousting of president Bashar al-Assad more than a week ago.”Photos showed Julani meeting with Ann Snow, the UK special representative for Syria, and UK diplomat Stephen Hickey, a former British ambassador to Iraq.Iran and Russia are also expected to seek inroads in Damascus even as Russia withdraws its forces and Iran deals with the new reality. It remains to be seen what other Arab states will rush resources and envoys to Damascus. It is important to also pay attention to China and its engagement.