Syria appoints new foreign minister

The interim Government of Syria appointed this Saturday (12/21/2024) Assaad Hassan al Shaibani as new foreign minister, a figure who will mainly seek to recover the ties broken with the West by the regime of the deposed Bashar al Assad, and achieve the lifting of sanctions and help in the reconstruction of Syria.

The political office of the new Syrian administration announced his appointment in a brief message, accompanied by an official photograph with a suit and tie, also collected by the official SANA news agency. “The General Command announces the appointment of Assaad Hassan al-Shibani as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new Syrian government,” the statement read. “He joined the Syrian revolution in 2011… and participated in the founding of the Salvation Government,” says the text, published on Telegram by the interim government.

In this way, the new Syrian Government – in office until next March 1 – has been taking shape since Mohamed al Bashir was appointed as interim prime ministera few days after the fall of Al Assad, on December 8, by an insurgent Islamist coalition led by the Levant Liberation Organization (Hayat Tahrir al Sham or HTS, in Arabic), heir to the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda . Many consider Al Shaibani to be the de facto foreign minister of the HTS for years.

Qatar reopened its embassy in Damascus today, after 13 years of closure due to the civil war in the country. The Gulf emirate raised the flag at its diplomatic mission, becoming the second country after Turkey to officially reopen its embassy since an Islamist-led rebel coalition took power in the Syrian capital on December 8. Other countries are also processing the reopening of their embassies and even the EU has announced that it will open its delegation in Damascus.

The interim Government of Syria also assured today that it continues to strengthen security and police presence in the country. “We are making intense efforts in the Ministry of the Interior to ensure security and stability in all Syrian provinces, strengthening security and police presence in all areas with the aim of protecting the lives and property of citizens, and preserving public facilities for weak members of will of some cells of the deceased regime,” the interim Interior Minister, Mohamed Abdulrahman, said in a statement.

However, fighting in the north continues also with the Syrian Kurdish forces. The Democratic Syrian Forces (SDF), an armed alliance led by Syrian Kurds, said this Saturday that they have killed 35 Syrian rebels backed by Ankara in the almost two weeks of clashes around the strategic Tishrin dam, in Aleppo province. in northeastern Syria.

In addition, at least three people died, among them a cleric, in a Turkish drone attack against a vehicle at a checkpoint near the village of Tel Brak, in the province of Al Hasaka, in northeastern Syria, in a new action against areas controlled by the Syrian Kurdish.