Syria insurgent chief meets U.N. envoy in Damascus

UN Particular Envoy Geir Pedersen assembly with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now utilizing his actual identify Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus.
| Picture Credit score: AFP

The Syrian Islamist chief whose group led the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad met on Sunday with U.N. envoy Geir Pedersen, who was visiting Damascus, mentioned an announcement on the rebels’ Telegram channel.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) chief Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, now utilizing his actual identify Ahmed al-Sharaa, mentioned with Pedersen “the modifications which have occurred on the political scene which make it essential to replace” a 2015 United Nations Safety Council decision “to swimsuit the brand new actuality”, the assertion mentioned.

Jolani’s HTS is rooted in Syria’s department of Al-Qaeda, the Al-Nusra Entrance, designated a “terrorist” organisation by many Western governments.

U.N. Safety Council Decision 2254 of 2015, to which the insurgent assertion referred, set out a roadmap for a political settlement in Syria, and in addition talked about Nusra’s “terrorist” designation.

On Tuesday, Pedersen mentioned the truth that Nusra was listed by the U.N. Safety Council as a terrorist organisation was “clearly a complicating issue” in efforts to discover a manner ahead.

Nevertheless, he careworn that it was essential to view HTS, which broke with Nusra in 2016 and has sought to melt its picture, by means of the occasions of the civil conflict.

The insurgent assertion on Sunday mentioned Jolani had emphasised “the necessity to deal with Syrian territorial unity, reconstruction and attaining financial growth”.

He additionally raised “the significance of offering a secure surroundings for the return of refugees and offering financial and political help for this”, mentioned the assertion.

Earlier on Sunday, Pedersen urged a “political course of… that’s inclusive of all Syrians.

“That course of clearly must be led by the Syrians themselves” with “assist and help” from the remainder of the world, he mentioned.