Latest news with #AhmedalSharaa
Zawya
5 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Saudi business delegation arrives in Syria; deals worth $4bln to $6bln seen being signed
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's investment minister led a business delegation travelling to Syria on Wednesday, where they were expected to sign deals worth $4 billion to $6 billion as part of Riyadh's efforts to support the country's post-war recovery. The Gulf kingdom has been a crucial supporter of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government, which came to power after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December and is now seeking to rebuild Syria after a 14-year civil war. Saudi Investment Minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, who brought around 130 Saudi businesspeople to Damascus, is set to hold meetings with Syria's leadership ahead of a two-day investment conference opening on Wednesday, according to people due to attend. Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Moustafa said at a press conference on Wednesday that Syria will sign 44 agreements with Saudi Arabia estimated to be worth nearly $6 billion. The agreements cover various sectors, including energy, telecommunications, financial and banking, investment funds and others, the minister said. Some of the agreements will be signed between the government and private companies, he said. Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya television reported on Tuesday that the agreements to be signed between Damascus and Riyadh would be worth over $4 billion. During his visit to Syria, Saudi Arabia's Al-Falih and his Syrian counterpart launched a cement factory project on Wednesday in Adra Industrial City in the Damascus countryside, the first white cement production project in the country, with an investment worth $20 million, Syrian state news agency SANA said. Al-Falih also broke ground on an integrated retail project by Saudi investment firm Ethraa Holding that is worth 375 million riyals ($99.96 million) in investments. Saudi Arabia has shown interest in Syria's energy and hospitality sectors, as well as airports, a diplomat and a Syrian businessman familiar with the matter told Reuters. The two countries are also expected to launch a joint business council, said the Syrian businessman. The investment conference had initially been scheduled to take place in June, but was delayed due to the war between Iran and Israel. It is going ahead this week despite sectarian clashes in Syria's southern city of Sweida that have left hundreds dead. The violence is a reminder of the lingering instability in Syria, even as foreign investors explore opportunities. Companies, many from Gulf states and Turkey, have expressed interest in rebuilding Syria's power generation capacity, roads, ports and other damaged infrastructure. Syria has signed a $7 billion power deal with Qatar and an $800 million agreement with UAE-based port company DP World in recent months. U.S. energy firms are also set to draw up a master plan for the country's energy sector. For its part, Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, paid off Syria's World Bank arrears, opening the possibility of new lending. Syria's al-Sharaa made his first trip abroad as president, to Saudi Arabia in February. And the kingdom's Crown Prince and de-facto ruler Mohammed Bin Salman successfully lobbied U.S. President Donald Trump to lift sanctions seen as holding back private investment. ($1 = 3.7516 riyals) (Reporting by Timour Azhari in Beirut; Additional reporting by Yomna Ehab and Menna Alaa El-Din in Cairo; Writing by Pesha Magid; Editing by Joe Bavier and Leslie Adler)
The Hindu
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Sectarian wounds: on the violence in Syria
Last week's violence in southern Syria, which saw the killing of hundreds from the Druze community, was a grave reminder of the country's deep-rooted sectarian tensions, now ruled by a former Sunni jihadist. When the Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), formerly an al-Qaeda affiliate, captured power in Syria in November 2024, its leader Ahmed al Sharaa (who until recently was known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) pledged to protect the rights of all communities. But the realities on the ground tell a different story. Syria is approximately 80% Sunni, with minorities including Alawites, Shias, Christians and Druze making up the rest. The ascent of the HTS triggered widespread anxiety among these groups. These fears were only reinforced when violence erupted against the Alawites, the sect of former President Bashar al-Assad, in March in the western coastal region. Hundreds were killed in days long attacks orchestrated by pro-government militias, most of them jihadists. It took only four months before the next atrocity unfolded — this time in Sweida, a Druze heartland in the south. Clashes initially broke out between Druze and local Bedouin members, which prompted Mr. Sharaa to send in security forces. What followed was a massacre. The sectarian violence escalated into a regional crisis after Israel began bombing Syrian government forces and military infrastructure in Sweida and Damascus. While Israel does have a Druze minority of its own, its claims of humanitarian intervention ring hollow in the context of its ongoing genocidal war on Gaza. Israel has long conducted strikes in Syria — earlier, its targets were Hezbollah and Mr. Assad's troops. Now that the HTS is in power, Tel Aviv does not want a consolidated Syrian military presence near its border. These internal and external pressures have left Mr. Sharaa vulnerable. Syria, which witnessed coups and counter-coups in the 1950s and 1960s, achieved some stability under the secular Baathist rule in the 1970s. When the Baathist regime became a dynastic dictatorship, cracks began to emerge in the political and social consensus that Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, had built, to culminate in a devastating civil war. The best chance for Mr. Sharaa to redeem himself and Syria was to rebuild a pluralistic state, with Kurds, Alawites, Christians and Druze enjoying equal rights. Instead, his push to establish a centralised Islamist regime in Damascus has deepened the sectarian wounds. And the HTS's armed jihadists, who go on killing sprees against minority dissenters, are pushing the country towards disintegration. Unless Mr. Sharaa takes urgent steps to rein in his fighters and rebuild a national consensus, Syria risks descending deeper into chaos.
Zawya
18 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Saudi business delegation arrives in Syria eyeing $4bln in deals
Saudi Arabia's investment minister led a business delegation travelling to Syria on Wednesday, where they were expected to sign deals worth around $4 billion as part of Riyadh's efforts to support the country's post-war recovery. The Gulf kingdom has been a crucial supporter of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government, which came to power after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December and is now seeking to rebuild Syria after a 14-year civil war. Saudi investment minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, who brought around 130 Saudi businesspeople to Damascus, is set to hold meetings with Syria's leadership ahead of a two-day investment conference opening on Wednesday, according to people due to attend. Saudi Arabia has shown interest in Syria's energy and hospitality sectors, as well as airports, a diplomat and a Syrian businessman familiar with the matter told Reuters. The two countries are also expected to launch a joint business council, said the Syrian businessman. The investment conference was initially scheduled to take place in June but was delayed due to the war between Iran and Israel. It is going ahead this week despite sectarian clashes in Syria's southern city of Sweida that have left hundreds dead. The violence is a reminder of the lingering instability in Syria, even as foreign investors explore opportunities there. Companies, many from Gulf states and Turkey, have expressed interest in rebuilding Syria's power generation capacity, roads, ports and other damaged infrastructure. Syria has signed a $7 billion power deal with Qatar and a $800 million agreement with UAE-based port company DP World in recent months, while U.S. energy firms are also set to draw up a master plan for the country's energy sector. For its part, Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, paid off Syria's World Bank arrears, opening the possibility of new lending. Syria's al-Sharaa made his first trip abroad as president to Saudi Arabia in February. And the kingdom's Crown Prince and de-facto ruler Mohammed Bin Salman successfully lobbied U.S. President Donald Trump to lift sanctions seen as holding back private investment.
Reuters
a day ago
- Politics
- Reuters
US envoy urges Syria's Sharaa to revise policy or risk fragmentation
BEIRUT, July 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy has urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to recalibrate his policies and embrace a more inclusive approach after a new round of sectarian bloodshed last week, or risk losing international support and fragmenting the country. U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack said he had advised Sharaa in private discussions to revisit elements of the pre-war army structure, scale back Islamist indoctrination and seek regional security assistance. In an interview in Beirut, Barrack told Reuters that without swift change, Sharaa risks losing the momentum that once propelled him to power. Sharaa should say: "I'm going to adapt quickly, because if I don't adapt quickly, I'm going to lose the energy of the universe that was behind me," Barrack said. He said Sharaa could "grow up as a president and say, 'the right thing for me to do is not to follow my theme, which isn't working so well.'" Sharaa, leader of a former Al Qaeda offshoot, came to power in Syria after guerilla fighters he led brought down President Bashar al-Assad in December last year after more than 13 years of civil war. Though his own fighters have roots in Sunni Muslim militancy, Sharaa has promised to protect members of Syria's many sectarian minorities. But that pledge has been challenged, first by mass killings of members of Assad's Alawite sect in March, and now by the latest violence in the southwest. Hundreds of people have been reported killed in clashes in the southern province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and Sharaa's own forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killing of Druze by government forces. Barrack said the new government should consider being "more inclusive quicker" when it comes to integrating minorities into the ruling structure. But he also pushed back against reports that Syrian security forces were responsible for violations against Druze civilians. He suggested that Islamic State group militants may have been disguised in government uniforms and that social media videos are easily doctored and therefore unreliable. "The Syrian troops haven't gone into the city. These atrocities that are happening are not happening by the Syrian regime troops. They're not even in the city because they agreed with Israel that they would not go in," he said. The U.S. helped broker a ceasefire last week that brought an end to the fighting, which erupted between Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze factions on July 13. Barrack said the stakes in Syria are dangerously high, with no succession plan or viable alternative to the country's new Islamist government. "With this Syrian regime, there is no plan B. If this Syrian regime fails, somebody is trying to instigate it to fail," Barrack said. "For what purpose? There's no successor." Asked if Syria could follow the dire scenarios of Libya and Afghanistan, he said: "Yes, or even worse." The U.S. has said it did not support Israel's airstrikes on Syria. Barrack said the strikes had added to the "confusion" in Syria. Israel says Syria's new rulers are dangerous militants, and has vowed to keep government troops out of the southwest and protect Syria's Druze minority in the area, encouraged by calls from Israel's own Druze community. Barrack said his message to Israel is to have dialogue to alleviate their concerns about Syria's new Sunni leaders and that the U.S. could play the role of an "honest intermediary" to help resolve any concerns. He said Sharaa had signaled from the beginning of his rule that Israel was not his enemy and that he could normalise ties in due time. He said the United States was not dictating what the political format of Syria should be, other than stability, unity, fairness and inclusion. "If they end up with a federalist government, that's their determination. And the answer to the question is, everybody may now need to adapt."
LBCI
a day ago
- Politics
- LBCI
US envoy urges Syria's Sharaa to revise policy or risk fragmentation
A U.S. envoy has urged Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to recalibrate his policies and embrace a more inclusive approach after a new round of sectarian bloodshed last week, or risk losing international support and fragmenting the country. U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack said he had advised Sharaa in private discussions to revisit elements of the pre-war army structure, scale back Islamist indoctrination and seek regional security assistance. In an interview in Beirut, Barrack told Reuters that without swift change, Sharaa risks losing the momentum that once propelled him to power. Sharaa should say: "I'm going to adapt quickly, because if I don't adapt quickly, I'm going to lose the energy of the universe that was behind me," Barrack said. He said Sharaa could "grow up as a president and say, 'the right thing for me to do is not to follow my theme, which isn't working so well.'" Reuters
