Syria leader Ahmed al-Sharaa
EU Agrees Process to Ease Sanctions on Syria
UPDATE 1820 GMT:
Royal Jordanian Airlines resumed commercial flights to Syria’s capital Damascus on Friday after a 13-year break.
The flight from Amman included Samer Majali, vice chairman and CEO of Royal Jordanian, and Razan al-Jabarat, the airline’s executive director of corporate communications.
The Jordanian national carrier has scheduled four flights a week to Damascus, “with the aim of providing air connectivity for the Syrian market with countries around the world”.
Majali has said Royal Jordanian plans daily flights from April.
On Thursday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II congratulated Ahmed al-Sharaa on his assumption of the Presidency of Syria.
Abdullah wished al-Sharaa success in leading Syria and serving its people. He reaffirmed Jordan’s support for Syrian unity, security, and stability, and he stressed its commitment to boosting bilateral cooperation and backing for the Syrian people.
The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Oman also offered their congratulations.
UPDATE, JAN 31:
Syria security forces have reportedly captured Assad regime intelligence official Atef Najib.
Najib, a cousin of Bashar al-Assad, was head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa Province in southern Syria when 15 teenage boys were detained and tortured for putting pro-freedom graffiti on walls.
When their fathers went to Najib to request their release, he reportedly said, “Forget your children. If you want children, make more children. If you don’t know how, bring us your women and we will make them for you.”
The torture sparked local protests which spread across the country, triggering the Syrian uprising of March 2011.
A senior official in security directorate in Latakia Province in western Syria, Lt. Col. Mustafa Knaifati, said Najib was “considered one of those involved in committing crimes against the Syrian people”.
This step comes within the framework of the authorities’ efforts to hold accountable those involved in violations against the Syrian people and enhance security and stability in the region.
ORIGINAL ENTRY, JAN 30: Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist faction Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham led the liberation of Syria from the Assad regime, has been named President for a “transitional period”.
Al-Sharaa’s appointment followed a meeting of faction leaders on Wednesday. He had already been serving as the de facto head of the new Government.
The Government also agreed the dissolution of the Assad-era Parliament, the formation of an appointed legislative council, and the cancellation of the country’s 2012 Constitution.
Al-Sharaa has said the plan is for a new Constitution within three years and national elections within four. The transitional government has said that power will be handed to a lasting one in March, and al-Sharaa has promised to hold a national dialogue conference with inclusion of all elements of Syrian society; however, no details have been confirmed.
The Assad-era military and security agencies are being replaced by new security institutions and armed forces. All armed factions will be disbanded and absorbed into the new national military.
Al-Sharaa said Syria’s priorities are “filling the power vacuum, preserving civil peace, and building state institutions”.
We will work on forming an inclusive transitional government that reflects Syria’s diversity with its men, women, and youth to work on building the institutions of the new Syria, to reach the stage of free and fair elections.
Ahmed al-Sharaa addressed the nation in his first official speech as interim president of Syria
“I stand before you today after 54 days of our collective liberation — Syria’s liberation from the shackles of a criminal regime that had burdened us for decades,” Al-Sharaa said,… pic.twitter.com/i5NEFzaNjo
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 31, 2025
Al-Sharaa’s speech last month announcing the liberation of Syria:
The full and translated victory speech of the President of the #Syrian Arab Republic, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, at the conference announcing the victory of the #Syrian revolution pic.twitter.com/BWnZ2Fu1W9
— Qusay Noor (@QUSAY_NOOR_) January 29, 2025
Syria’s interim president says organising elections could take up to five years: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20250203-syria-s-interim-president-says-organising-elections-could-take-up-to-five-years