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UN Envoy Meets Sharaa, Urges ‘Credible and Inclusive’ Transition in Syria

UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen meets with head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria in this handout released on December 15, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen meets with head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria in this handout released on December 15, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
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UN Envoy Meets Sharaa, Urges ‘Credible and Inclusive’ Transition in Syria

UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen meets with head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria in this handout released on December 15, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)
UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen meets with head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria in this handout released on December 15, 2024. (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham/Handout via Reuters)

The United Nations told the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group which toppled Bashar al-Assad that Syria must have a "credible and inclusive" transition.

The UN special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen who arrived in Damascus on Sunday, has met Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, Pedersen's office said Monday in a statement.

He also met interim prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir, it said.

Pedersen met them after Saturday's international meeting on Syria in Jordan, and stressed "the need for a credible and inclusive Syrian-owned and led political transition based on the principles of United Nations Security Council resolution 2254 (2015)".

The UN envoy also underlined "the intention of the United Nations to render all assistance to the Syrian people" and was briefed on their "challenges and priorities", the statement added.

"The Special Envoy stressed the intention of the United Nations to render all assistance to the Syrian people," it continued.

It said Pedersen had several engagements planned in the days ahead, but did not elaborate.

Assad was toppled by a lightning 11-day opposition offensive that swept down from northwest Syria, with fighters entering the capital on December 8.

Abandoned by his Russian and Iranian backers, Assad fled into exile in Moscow, bring to an end five decades of abuses by his family.

The HTS group that led his overthrow is a former branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, and the United States and other Western governments still classify it as a "terrorist" group.

Several countries including the United States and Britain have said they have already made contact with Sharaa.

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Iraq Reiterates Need for Int’l Coalition Forces to Remain

A convoy of US forces seen on the border between Syria and Iraq. (Reuters file)
A convoy of US forces seen on the border between Syria and Iraq. (Reuters file)
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Iraq Reiterates Need for Int’l Coalition Forces to Remain

A convoy of US forces seen on the border between Syria and Iraq. (Reuters file)
A convoy of US forces seen on the border between Syria and Iraq. (Reuters file)

Iraq’s security and defense committee announced on Sunday that “the need still stands” for the US-led anti-ISIS international coalition to remain in the country.

It made its announcement days after Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi made similar remarks.

In televised statements, he stressed that the international troops were still needed in Syria, adding that “Iraq and Syria’s security are indivisible.”

Security and military coordination with the coalition continues, he said.

Baghdad has not received any official notice about the withdrawal of the forces from Syria or Iraq, he revealed.

Iraq had in 2024 held three rounds of dialogue with the United States about organizing the presence of the coalition after the completion of the pullout of remaining American forces.

Pro-Iran factions in Iraq, which had for years demanded the withdrawal, have so far not commented on the latest statements about the coalition.

Abbasi added that the American and coalition forces were necessary in Syria to maintain the fight against ISIS remnants, which continue to be a cross-border threat.

The US Defense Department recently said that American troop movement from northern and eastern Syria to more secure locations in Iraq was part of a calculated, safe and professional redeployment plan aimed at consolidating the successes against ISIS and cementing regional stability.

It does not mean the end of the coalition’s mission in Syria, it added.

A Pentagon official said local partners remain in the field in Syria and are an effective force against ISIS.

The US will continue to empower those partners in performing most of their remaining counter-terrorism duties, including guarding ISIS detainees, he went on to say.

ISIS is seeking to exploit any instability in the area, but the US efforts to deter its resurgence cannot be underestimated. The coalition remains committed to achieving the permanent defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, he vowed.

Member of the security and defense committee Yasser Iskander Watout said on Sunday that Iraq needs major logistic and aerial support since the means at its disposal were not enough to control borders with neighbors.

The continued deployment of the international coalition forces is “necessary and realistic”, he said.

The Interior Ministry and border and security forces have secured the border with Syria, but members of the committee said the need remains for aerial support to bolster stability in the area, he revealed.

Watout agreed with Abbasi on the need for the international forces to remain given that it boasts air forces that have effectively secured Iraq’s skies.

He noted that recent government contracts for the purchase of 14 modern jets “were not enough to cover all our needs.”

The coalition currently has 2,500 forces deployed in Iraq to counter ISIS and offer Iraqi forces logistic support.

Pro-Iran factions that have long been opposed to the international troops have not commented on the recent statements on their continued deployment given the Israeli threats against Tehran and US President Donald Trump’s urging of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against carrying out attacks against the factions themselves.