France raised its flag at its Damascus embassy on Tuesday for the first time in 12 years and European Union officials prepared to engage with the new Syrian leadership, a sign of the growing contacts after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president.
Western states are gradually opening channels to the new authorities in Damascus led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, though they continue to designate the group as terrorists.
As well as France and Britain, which sent a team to meet Sharaa on Monday, Germany is also planning meetings with the new administration and the European Union said on Tuesday it will also establish contacts.
Nine days after Assad was ousted, the new prime minister installed by Sharaa’s Islamist HTS group said the government was grappling with very low currency reserves and called for sanctions imposed on the ousted government to be lifted.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to a northwest corner of Syria for years until this month when the army melted away as it swept into Damascus.
France said its raising of the flag did not automatically mean it would reopen its embassy.
During his meeting with British officials, Sharaa, formerly known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, called for countries to restore ties and lift sanctions on Syria to help refugees return home.
(Editor: Oloyede Oworu)
