The heads of French diplomacy, Jean-Noel Barrot; and German, Annalena Barbockmet this Friday with the new leader of Syria, Ahmed Al Sharaaat the presidential palace in Damascus.
This meeting is the first of this level between senior officials from major Western powers and the new Syrian leader, who took power on December 8 after the fall of dictator Bashar Al Assad.
Jean-Noël Barrot offered this Friday during his visit to Damascus technical and legal assistance for draft a new constitution in Syriaa task that has been attempted in recent years without success and that could now take place after the fall of the Al Assad regime.
“We offer the new Syrian administration to provide technical and legal assistance to draft a constitution for the country“, the head of French diplomacy told journalists north of Damascus, reported Syrian television aligned with the interim government.
The celebration of a meeting is expected in the middle of the month National Dialogue Conference in which the creation of a committee to draft a new Constitution and the dissolution of the armed factions that participated in the offensive against Al Assad is expected to be announced.
“During our visit to Sednaya prisonwe were shocked by the brutal conditions that the detainees lived there (…) And I say that there can be no justice without accountability,” he said, adding that in Syria “there is no reconciliation without achieving justice.”
Syrian television aligned with the interim government reported the arrival in the Syrian capital of both heads of diplomacy, while Barrot assured on his official X account that today he will be in Damascus with Baerbock to “promote a peaceful and demanding transition.” for the benefit of Syrians and regional stability.”
“Together, France and Germany stand by the Syrian people, in all their diversity,” said Barrot, who in recent days has been in neighboring Lebanon on an official visit.
Earlier, the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrotand her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, visited the infamous Sednaya prison, north of Damascus, as part of their visit to Syria to show their support for the new interim government established after the overthrow of deposed President Bashar al-Assad.
French diplomatic sources indicated that both diplomats visited the prison, which they described as “a symbol of the worst crimes of the Bashar al-Assad regime.”
“France will mobilize to shed light on the crimes committed. “Fully supports the work carried out by the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria and the United Nations International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IMI), as well as that of the Independent Institution for Missing Persons.”said the head of French diplomacy, according to sources.
On the other hand, the German envoy for Syria, Stefan Schneck, stated in his official X account that he was with Baerbock in Sednaya: “Words cannot describe the horrors in Sednaya, but they remind us that we must remember the horrors so as not to repeat them.” .
Baerbock was accompanied during her visit to the military prison of the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the white helmets, reported Syrian television aligned with the interim government.
Amnesty International estimates that between 10,000 and 20,000 inmates were systematically subjected to torture and ill-treatment, those in Sednayawhich was directed by the military police of the deposed regime, and was the final destination of both peaceful opponents of the authorities and soldiers suspected of opposing Al Assad since 2011, at the beginning of the conflict in Syria.
This is one of the stops of both heads of diplomacy, who visit the Syrian capital on behalf of the European Union to meet with the country’s strongman and de facto leader, Ahmed Al Sharaa.
The message they want to convey is that they support Syria in this new stage without Al Assad and are willing to help make the Arab country stable again.
Al Sharaa, who leads the Levant Liberation Organization (HTS, in Arabic, and heir to the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda) insists that the United States, the EU and other countries lift the sanctions against Syria imposed during the last almost fourteen years of war in the nation, governed by Al Assad, to begin the reconstruction.
This is the first visit to Syria by two European heads of diplomacy since the fall of Al Assad on December 8 by a coalition led by the Islamist Al Sharaa.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
