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Syria: Int’l Coalition, Deir Ezzor Civil Council Discuss Region’s Security

An injured boy rests on the ground of a makeshift camp in Syria's Aqrabat village, 45km north of Idlib City, near the Turkish border. File photo
An injured boy rests on the ground of a makeshift camp in Syria's Aqrabat village, 45km north of Idlib City, near the Turkish border. File photo
    Qamishli - Kamal Sheikho
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Syria: Int’l Coalition, Deir Ezzor Civil Council Discuss Region’s Security

An injured boy rests on the ground of a makeshift camp in Syria's Aqrabat village, 45km north of Idlib City, near the Turkish border. File photo
An injured boy rests on the ground of a makeshift camp in Syria's Aqrabat village, 45km north of Idlib City, near the Turkish border. File photo

A delegation from the US-led international coalition convened on Tuesday with the leadership of the Deir Ezzor Civil Council at Al-Omar oil field to discuss means of supporting stability and improving services in towns in the Syrian city’s eastern countryside.

Ghassan al-Youssef, the co-chair of Deir Ezzor Civil Council, told the press that the meeting discussed ways to develop services in the eastern countryside as part of attempts to reach full stability in the region.

Youssef said the Council is working on restoring security and improving infrastructure, in addition to boosting the economy and alleviating the people’s suffering.

The meeting came as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced a mechanism for civil complaints as part of pledges made to the UN.

NES and SDF revealed the joint mechanism in an attempt to halt the recruitment of minors in armed conflicts.

Abdul Hamid al-Mahbash, the co-chair of the Executive Body of NES, told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that this mechanism allows citizens, households, parents and active humanitarian parties to submit a complaint and to disclose any recruitment of child soldiers.

Mahbash affirmed that NES is fully committed to international legal standards and codes on children's rights and protection, especially those who are impacted by the armed conflict in Syria.

Earlier, SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi signed with Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba an agreement on child protection aimed at ending and preventing the recruitment of children under the age of 18.

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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
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Italy’s Foreign Minister Heads to Syria to Encourage Post-Assad Transition

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks to the media a he arrives for a meeting at Rome’s Villa Madama, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 on the situation in Syria after the collapse of the Assad regime. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini (Andrew Medichini/AP POOL)

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would travel to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by insurgents, and appealed on Europe to review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.
Tajani presided over a meeting in Rome on Thursday of foreign ministry officials from five countries, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States.
The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.
Going into the meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HT.
“The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” Tajani said.
Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to its sanctions on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.
Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the US, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.
HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.
The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian opposition leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.
Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of insurgents.