Next steps in the Syrian transition - World - Al-Ahram Weekly

Al-Ahram Weekly

18-02-2025

Multiple meetings have been taking place in Syria and abroad, setting out next steps in the country's transition
The new administration in Syria appears to have realised that promises to foreign diplomats and media alone will not convince the West to lift the sanctions on the country. It has therefore decided to take steps to persuade the sceptics that the transition is headed in the right direction.
Last week occasioned a flurry of gatherings between representatives of the transitional government and diverse components of Syrian society at home and abroad. Taking place in Dubai, Paris, Munich, and AlUla in Saudi Arabia, and in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, Idlib, Tartus, and Latakia in Syria, the events focused on various political, diplomatic, security, and economic themes.
On 11 February in Dubai, Syrian Foreign Minister Assad Al-Shibani met with around 50 Syrian business magnates. The aim was to build trust in the transition and attract investments from the Syrian expatriate community before the sanctions are lifted. Although the meeting was closed, parts of it were leaked to the press.
Al-Shibani told participants that on 1 March a new Syrian cabinet would be formed and that it would come as a 'surprise' in terms of its diversity and inclusiveness, traits that do not characterise the current cabinet. He also said that work on the country's Interim Constitutional Declaration was proceeding as quickly as possible. This will govern the country until a permanent constitution is drafted and ratified by the people.
He proceeded to outline a five-point plan for rebuilding the Syrian economy. First, the UN will soon launch a fund for the large-scale reconstruction of the country that will be financed by the major powers and other economic entities. Second, another fund will be dedicated to major national development enterprises that will be financed by shares owned by Syrian expatriates.
Third, a fund will be established to offer facilitated loans for small enterprises. Syrians will be able to own shares in this project too, Al-Shibani said. Fourth, there will be a forum for Syrian businessmen and investors to help set the priorities for the economy in Syria during the transitional phase. Finally, the new cabinet will work to build partnerships with the Arab countries to ensure sustainable energy supplies and create an investment-friendly climate.
On 13 February, Paris hosted an international conference on Syria. The participants, which included 20 Arab and Western powers including the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, pledged to support Syria during the transitional phase to ensure it does not revert to a hub for terrorism and regional anarchy. France pledged around €50 million to support stability efforts in Syria.
In his speech to the attendees, French President Emmanuel Macron urged respect for Syrian sovereignty and called for a nationwide ceasefire, especially in the north and northeast of the country and a halt to foreign intervention in the south, the latter referring to the expansion of the Israeli occupation of southern Syria.
He stressed the need to integrate the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the new Syrian Army in order to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts. He concluded with an appeal for 'support for the process undertaken by the Syrian transitional government in their pursuit to fully address the aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom and dignity and contribute to the building of a free, inclusive, united, sovereign, stable, and peaceful Syria that is fully integrated in its regional and global environment,' according to a French Foreign Ministry statement.
The Syrian foreign minister met with Macron and the foreign ministers of Germany, Canada, and Jordan, as well as the UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, on the sidelines of the Paris Conference.
Syria was also on the agenda of the three-day Munich Security Conference held in the southern German city between 14 and 16 February.
A session on 15 February attended by the Syrian foreign minister and several figures from the anti-Al-Assad opposition abroad, addressed the question of sanctions. One of the participants, Farah Al-Atassi, a prominent civil opposition figure, intercepted some sceptical questions directed at Al-Shibani, saying that the international community must stop imposing conditions and start clarifying what support it can offer to ensure a successful political and economic transition in the country.
Al-Shibani reported that the integration of the militias into the new Syrian Army was proceeding successfully despite certain difficulties. The new army was the cornerstone of rebuilding peace and security in Syria, he said, adding that the sanctions on Syria must be lifted to prevent the transition process from failing.
Al-Shibani then flew to AlUla in Saudi Arabia to attend the Conference for Emerging Economies on 16 February, where he stressed the need to reconnect the Syrian Central Bank to the SWIFT system for international financial transfers and for the new Syrian government to be represented at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Participants at the AlUla meeting also discussed Syria's new economic vision and ways to accelerate the lifting of economic sanctions.
While in Paris, Al-Shibani held a separate meeting with prominent members of the Syrian community in France, including Burhan Ghalioun, who chaired the Syrian National Council in 2011 and George Sabra, who headed the Syrian National Coalition in 2013.
The meetings related to a meeting that Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa held in Damascus on 12 February with members of the Syrian National Coalition and Syrian Negotiation Commission, which may soon dissolve themselves preparatory to participating in the forthcoming National Dialogue Conference.
The meetings signalled the Syrian administration's openness to other political components. Up until this point, it had only dealt with local minority community and religious leaders.
Also on 12 February, Al-Sharaa launched the preparatory committee for the Syrian National Dialogue Conference. The seven-member committee consists of a mixture of individuals close to Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and Syrian revolutionary activists. Two of the members are women, one of whom, Hind Kabawat, also took part in the Munich Security Conference, where she stressed the importance of the new administration's steps towards pluralism.
Five members of the committee attended an inaugural session in Homs in Syria, the purpose of which was to gather views on the subjects that should take priority on the dialogue's agenda. The committee plans to tour the Syrian provinces to solicit the views of community leaders on the priorities and rules of the National Dialogue Conference before sending out invitations.
Meanwhile, Al-Sharaa began his first domestic tour, starting with meetings with local leaders in the Idlib and Aleppo provinces on 15 February. He then headed to Tartus and Latakia on the Mediterranean Coast.
This area is known as a stronghold of the minority Alawite sect, to which the ousted Al-Assad family is affiliated. Al-Sharaa's visit there was at once a challenge to those who question his ability to extend the new government's control over the area and an invitation to communication and trust-building.
The visit was also a sign of Al-Sharaa's confidence in his popularity and the ability of the new security apparatus to protect him in an area where his forces have encountered some difficulties asserting their control after the overthrow of former president Bashar Al-Assad.
In addition to building public confidence in the new military and security institutions, the visit should help promote Al-Sharaa's legitimacy and standing among other sectors of the Syrian population, which many believed would be resolute in their opposition to him.
These diplomatic and political activities throw into relief the long-hoped-for sea change that is unfolding in Syria. No longer is the country a source of grim headlines about death, destruction, and displacement. Instead, the news coming out of Syria today is about steps being taken towards stability, reconstruction, and economic revival.
It is encouraging that the government's representation abroad is shifting from an ideological and sectarian monotone to diversity, which raises hopes that the new cabinet to be unveiled on 1 March will indeed be more broadly inclusive and representative, including of elements of the Syrian opposition abroad and other expatriates.
Similarly heartening is the fact that the military presence is ceding space to civil society in the various diplomatic, political, and economic activities that are paving the way for reconstruction and recovery.
Foreign Minister Al-Shibani's meetings abroad, the outreach tour of the National Dialogue Preparatory Committee, and President Al-Sharaa's overtures to regions traditionally hostile to him are concrete signs of the new Syrian administration's readiness to engage with a broader spectrum of Syrian society.
This should build international confidence in the transitional government and accelerate the lifting of sanctions and the influx of aid and investment.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 20 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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