The office of the U.N.’s Syria envoy said Monday that he stressed the need for a Syria-led political transition as he met in Damascus with the head of the rebel group that led the ouster of longtime President Bashar al-Assad.
The transition should be based on the principles of a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance,” within six months, as well as establishing a process for drafting a new constitution with elections to follow, envoy Geir Pederson’s office said in its statement.
Pederson, in his talks with rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, also “stressed the intention of the United Nations to render all assistance to the Syrian people.”
A rebel statement said al-Sharaa discussed the need to update the resolution to reflect the current situation in Syria.
Pederson’s visit is one piece of a widespread international engagement with the rebels since Assad’s ouster, as Syria faces political upheaval following more than 50 years of Assad family rule and the need for massive reconstruction after bloody civil war.
U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Monday he arrived in Beirut and would be making his way to Damascus.
“A week of change in five decades, and then five decades of change in a week,” Fletcher said on X.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the EU’s envoy to Syria was heading to Damascus on Monday for talks.
Al-Sharaa’s group, Haya Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is designated a terror group by the United States and others.
As governments engage with the rebels, officials have signaled a willingness to reconsider that status, but have cautioned that it will be the group’s actions that will be judged in any reconsideration process.
“For us, it’s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds going in the right direction,” Kallas told reporters in Brussels.
“Syria faces optimistic, positive, but rather uncertain future and we have to make sure that this goes to the right direction,” Kallas added.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
