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Nasr Hariri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Syria’s War Would Only be Resolved Politically

Head of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee SNC Nasr al-Hariri. Asharq Al-Awsat
Head of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee SNC Nasr al-Hariri. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Nasr Hariri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Syria’s War Would Only be Resolved Politically

Head of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee SNC Nasr al-Hariri. Asharq Al-Awsat
Head of the Syrian High Negotiations Committee SNC Nasr al-Hariri. Asharq Al-Awsat

The High Negotiations Committee (SNC) confirmed on Tuesday that it is discussing with civil society in the Interim Government areas, ways to exert pressure on the Syrian regime and its allies to stop their military operations in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The Commission asked the UN Security Council to intervene and stop the regime, Russia and Iran from attacking hospitals and relief centers in the province.

In a telephone call with Asharq Al-Awsat, head of the SNC Nasr al-Hariri said: “We are currently in the area to assess the catastrophic situation of Idlib residents, mainly after the brutal military onslaught on the province.”

He explained that the Committee is coordinating with residents, local councils, civil society organizations and executive directorates affiliated with the Interim Government to follow up on the latest developments in the province and discuss the role of Iran and regime-linked militias.

“We want to thoroughly examine the conditions of the residents in the area following the latest brutal attacks,” al-Hariri said.

The head of the SNC said the Committee was discussing with residents in Antakya, on the Turkish-Syrian border, what steps should be taken politically and diplomatically to pressure the regime and its allies into stopping intense shelling and airstrikes on Idlib.

“The Committee will continue its program during the holy month of Ramadan,” he said.

Asked about contacts with the international community, al-Hariri said the United Nations Special Envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, has been setting the stage for separate meetings with the Syrian regime and the SNC to revive negotiations and try to reach an agreement on a committee concerned with writing Syria’s new constitution.

“Only a just political solution” would resolve Syria’s crisis and “end the disastrous situation of the Syrian people for the past eight years,” he said.

“Instead of moving towards a political solution, we see a military attack backed by Russia, Iran, the Syrian regime and the Democratic Union Party against civilians,” al-Hariri added.

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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon

The former US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said the maritime border agreement struck between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 and the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of last year show that a land border demarcation “is within reach.”

“We can get to a deal but there has to be political willingness,” he said.

“The agreement of the maritime boundary was unique because we’d been trying to work on it for over 10 years,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I understood that a simple diplomatic push for a line was not going to work. It had to be a more complicated and comprehensive agreement. And there was a real threat that people didn’t realize that if we didn’t reach an agreement we would have ended up in a conflict - in a hot conflict - or war over resources.”

He said there is a possibility to reach a Lebanese-Israeli land border agreement because there’s a “provision that mandated the beginning of talks on the land boundary.”

“I believe with concerted effort they can be done quickly,” he said, adding: “It is within reach.”

Hochstein described communication with Hezbollah as “complicated,” saying “I never had only one interlocutor with Hezbollah .... and the first step is to do shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon, Lebanon and Lebanon, and then you had to go to Israel and do shuttle diplomacy between the different factions” there.

“The reality of today and the reality of 2022 are different. Hezbollah had a lock on the political system in Lebanon in the way it doesn’t today.”

North of Litani

The 2024 ceasefire agreement requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to take full operational control of the south Litani region, all the way up to the border. It requires Hezbollah to demilitarize and move further north of the Litani region, he said.

“I don’t want to get into the details of other violations,” he said, but stated that the ceasefire works if both conditions are met.

Lebanon’s opportunity

“Lebanon can rewrite its future ... but it has to be a fundamental change,” he said.

“There is so much potential in Lebanon and if you can bring back opportunity and jobs - and through economic and legal reforms in the country - I think that the future is very bright,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hezbollah is not trying to control the politics and remember that Hezbollah is just an arm of Iran” which “should not be imposing its political will in Lebanon, Israel should not be imposing its military will in Lebanon, Syria should not. No one should. This a moment for Lebanon to make decisions for itself,” he added.