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Arab League Delegation to Visit Syria Next Week

Arab League headquarters in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Arab League headquarters in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Arab League Delegation to Visit Syria Next Week

Arab League headquarters in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Arab League headquarters in Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A delegation from the Arab League is set to visit Damascus next week, the league’s assistant secretary-general, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Zaki, who will head the delegation, said preparations are ongoing to finalize the visit’s agenda. The trip will include meetings with various Syrian parties, as well as discussions with the new administration led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
Earlier this month, Asharq Al-Awsat quoted an informed Arab diplomatic source as saying that the Arab League was intending to dispatch a delegation to Damascus to “open communication channels with the new authorities and understand their perspective.”
The league has been planning this visit for some time, coordinating with the new Syrian administration to ensure it moves forward smoothly. According to Zaki, the visit aims to “compile a report for Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit and member states about the changes in Syria.”
While some Arab nations have already engaged with the new Syrian leadership, Zaki noted that many of the League’s 22 member states have yet to do so.
He explained that the visit will provide these countries with an updated understanding of developments in Syria and give the Syrian administration an opportunity to present its vision for the future.
Last Sunday, Riyadh hosted a ministerial meeting involving Arab and Western officials to discuss Syria. The meeting included the Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Secretary-General of the GCC, and foreign ministers from Egypt, Syria, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Oman, Lebanon, and Bahrain, as well as representatives from Western countries.
When asked whether the outcomes of the Riyadh meeting would influence the Arab League’s visit to Damascus, Zaki emphasized that while the Riyadh meeting’s results are significant, they will not change the visit’s main objective: to assess the situation on the ground in Syria, consult with various parties, and prepare a detailed report for member states.
The Arab Ministerial Contact Group on Syria convened in Aqaba, Jordan, on December 14, 2024, where it reaffirmed its support for the Syrian people during the transitional phase.
Syrian political writer and researcher Ghassan Youssef described the league’s visit to Damascus as a “mission focused on familiarization, fact-finding, and public relations.”
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Youssef said: “Syria is in a transitional phase, and the new administration must be engaged.” He added that the planned National Dialogue Conference in Damascus and upcoming elections could bolster the legitimacy of the country’s new leadership and encourage deeper Arab and Western engagement.
In May 2023, the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers held an emergency meeting in Cairo, reinstating Syria’s membership in the Arab League. This decision ended a suspension imposed in November 2011.

 

 

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Syrians Circulate Lists of War Crimes Suspects

 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).
 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).
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Syrians Circulate Lists of War Crimes Suspects

 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).
 The Daraya cemetery, which contains the remains of victims of the 2012 massacre (circulated).

The file of individuals implicated in war crimes and human rights violations under the deposed Syrian regime remains one of the most complex challenges facing the new administration in Syria, especially in the absence of official, public lists of wanted persons.
The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria has been investigating war crimes and other violations of international human rights law since the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Operating remotely, the commission has compiled lists containing approximately 4,000 names of individuals suspected of committing serious crimes. Following his first visit to Syria on January 9, a UN investigator tasked with examining these violations expressed optimism for “productive cooperation” with the new Syrian authorities.
In addition, “Pro Justice,” a Washington-based organization founded in 2019 by Syrian Americans under the sponsorship of defected Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, previously released a “blacklist” before the fall of the regime, naming 100 high-ranking officials from the former regime accused of war crimes committed since 2011. This remains one of the few publicly documented lists, with detailed files outlining the role of each individual in these crimes.

In December, UN investigators announced confidential lists naming 4,000 individuals responsible for serious crimes in Syria. They emphasized the importance of ensuring accountability at the highest levels following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.
Linnea Arvidsson, coordinator for the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, stated: “It is crucial to hold perpetrators of crimes at the highest levels accountable.”
Since the regime’s fall, dozens of “unofficial” lists have circulated, naming and depicting suspects. One prominent list includes 161 names of senior officers and leaders of the former regime, topped by Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother Maher al-Assad, commander of the Fourth Armored Division.
This division, along with Air Force Intelligence, is accused of committing atrocities such as the Daraya massacre in 2012, the chemical weapons attack in Douma in 2013, and other crimes including drug trafficking and managing detention centers tied to these activities.
Nevertheless, arrests have also been made of individuals not listed in these reports. For example, Brigadier General Riyad Hassan, head of Political Security in Damascus, was arrested on December 27. Other arrests include Hayyan Miya, leader of the National Defense Militia in Latakia, and Aws Salloum, known as “Azrael of Sednaya,” who is accused of brutally executing over 500 detainees during the security campaign in Homs and its countryside.
Similarly, Mohammad Nour al-Din Shalloum, accused of destroying surveillance footage from Sednaya Prison, was detained after the regime’s fall, along with the killing of several prison guards.
On December 26, Syrian military forces successfully killed Shujaa al-Ali, infamously known as the “Butcher of Houla,” during clashes in western rural Homs. Al-Ali, who led the largest militia in the region, had spent the last four years engaging in extortion, kidnapping for ransom, and drug trafficking.
Platforms such as the “Wanted List of Former Regime Officers and Militants,” which emerged after the regime’s collapse, continue to monitor suspects and share their names and alleged crimes, primarily targeting well-known militia leaders in their respective regions.
Civil activist Ayman Ahmad from Homs warns that the unregulated circulation of random, unofficial lists on social media poses a significant threat to civil peace. “These lists are a form of incitement to violence and fearmongering, which only complicates the situation,” he said, pointing out reports of over 1,000 arrests during recent security campaigns in Homs neighborhoods.
He added: “As long as arrests are being made based on lists determined by the new administration, even if those lists are not publicly disclosed, we urge a halt to the dissemination of random, unofficial lists. These lists incite indiscriminate violence and deepen social divisions.”