President al-Sharaa is first Syrian leader to visit UNGA in six decades

The 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has brought the country’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to New York, making him the first head of state to attend the annual gathering in almost 60 years.

President Nureddin al-Atassi, who presided over Syria before the al-Assad family took control of the country in 1971 and continued in power until al-Sharaa overran Bashar al-Assad’s government in December, was the last leader to attend the UNGA.

In what state media called a “landmark trip,” Al-Sharaa led a sizable delegation of Syrian officials to New York on Sunday.

The visit’s symbolic significance was also significant because it marked the most recent step forward in the country’s restoration after a decade of rebel fighting in northern Syria.

At a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Al-Sharaa met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in May, marking the first time a Syrian president and a US president have met in 25 years. Trump stated at the meeting that the US would levy all sanctions against Syria, which he did in the interim. Additionally, he stated that Washington was “investigating normalizing relations with Syria’s new government.”

Despite ongoing negotiations between the two countries, Al-Sharaa’s fledgling government has been battling internal strife, most notably an uprising in the southern Suwayda in June and repeated Israeli attacks and military incursions into Syrian territory.

In order to advance its “expansionist and partition plans,” Syria has accused Israel of breaking the 1974 Disengagement Agreement that came into effect after their 1973 conflict.

Al-Sharaa stated in an interview with CBS’s Face the Nation that “President Trump made a big step toward Syria by lifting the sanctions with a swift, courageous, and historic decision.”

He accepted the need for a safe, stable, and united Syria. He continued, adding that he hoped to meet with Trump again while he was in the US, and that this was in the best interests of all the nations in the world, not just Syria.

Syria and the USA have many issues and competing interests, and we need to talk about them. We must restart communication in a responsible and direct manner.

Trump signed an executive order at the end of June, which was praised in Damascus as allowing”long-awaited reconstruction and development funds.

Al-Sharaa met Syrian community members when she arrived in the US.

Asaad al-Shaibani, the country’s foreign minister, raised the new flag over the Washington embassy.

في لحظة تاريخية، وزير الخارجية والمغتربين السيد أسعد حسن الشيباني يرفع علم الجمهورية العربية السورية فوق مبنى السفارة السورية في العاصمة الأميركية واشنطن. pic. twitter.com/PWyUEGSIBK