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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Meets Christian Delegation on New Year’s Eve

Head of Syria’s new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with a delegation of senior Christian clerics in Damascus on Tuesday. (New Syrian administration)
Head of Syria’s new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with a delegation of senior Christian clerics in Damascus on Tuesday. (New Syrian administration)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Meets Christian Delegation on New Year’s Eve

Head of Syria’s new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with a delegation of senior Christian clerics in Damascus on Tuesday. (New Syrian administration)
Head of Syria’s new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with a delegation of senior Christian clerics in Damascus on Tuesday. (New Syrian administration)

Head of Syria’s new administration Ahmed al-Sharaa received a Christian delegation on New Year’s Eve in Damascus on Tuesday.

The delegation included representatives of Christian sects in a bid to reassure Syria’s minorities over the new rulers that ousted Bashar al-Assad's regime on December 8.

Sharaa was seen wearing a suit and tie as he met with the clerics, who included representatives of the Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Assyrian Orthodox and Protestant churches, showed photos posted by the Syrian General Command posted on Telegram.

Earlier, a Syrian official told AFP that Sharaa held "positive" talks with delegates of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday.

The talks were Sharaa's first with Kurdish commanders since his opposition fighters overthrew Assad and come as the SDF is locked in fighting with Turkish-backed factions in northern Syria.

The US-backed SDF spearheaded the military campaign that ousted ISIS fighters from their last territory in Syria in 2019.

But Türkiye, which has long had ties with Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, accuses the main component of the SDF of links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

On Sunday, Sharaa told Al Arabiya television that Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into the new national army.

"Weapons must be in the hands of the state alone. Whoever is armed and qualified to join the defense ministry, we will welcome them," he said.

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SOHR: Document Reveals Assad Family Smuggled Millions to Moscow

The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
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SOHR: Document Reveals Assad Family Smuggled Millions to Moscow

The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)

A confidential document obtained by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has revealed massive money smuggling operations carried out via Syrian Airlines to Moscow.
The operations are described as among the most corrupt financial transfers orchestrated by the now-defunct Syrian regime.
According to the document, the majority of the funds stem from profits made through the production and trade of Captagon, a highly lucrative illicit drug.
The head of SOHR, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the most recent transfer took place just four days before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow in December of last year.
Rami Abdel Rahman also affirmed that the leaked document underscores the “deep involvement of the former Syrian regime in illegal activities.”
He added that further investigations could uncover a vast network of secret financial operations used to transfer large sums of money from Syria to Russia and other countries under official cover and without oversight.
“The regime, led by the ousted Assad and his brother, spearheaded drug-related investments, particularly through the production, promotion, and export of Captagon,” Abdel Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He explained that one key route involved a small port near the Afamia chalets on Syria's coast, which previously belonged to Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of late former President Hafez al-Assad.
From there, shipments were sent via smugglers to Italian ports, where collaborating traders distributed the drugs globally.
A Syrian source based in Russia, closely monitoring the regime’s activities and investments there, said the content of the leaked document is not new but that its official confirmation adds weight to prior claims.
“Western media had previously reported on the regime’s money-smuggling operations, which led to some loyalists being added to international sanctions lists, particularly regime-linked businessmen like Mudalal Khouri,” the source, who requested anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Sanctions were also imposed on individuals accused of money laundering for the regime.
The source confirmed that the operations were conducted using Syrian Airlines flights to Moscow.
“There were dozens of such flights, each loaded with hard currency—mostly US dollars and €500 euro notes,” the source said.
The money was reportedly delivered directly from the airport to the Syrian regime's embassy in Moscow, where it was distributed to loyalist businessmen.
These funds were then invested in Russian and Belarusian banks, real estate, and commercial properties. Some of the money was also used to establish companies in both countries.
The operations were allegedly overseen by Mohammed Makhlouf, the maternal uncle of Assad.