Syria’s foreign minister to appear at UN Security Council in first US visit since al-Assad’s fall

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani is set to raise his country’s new flag at the UN headquarters in New York when he attends a Security Council briefing, the first public appearance by a high-ranking Syrian government official in the US since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad last December.

The three-starred flag previously been used by opposition groups during the country’s civil conflict has now replaced the two-starred flag of the Assad era as the country’s official emblem.

The new authorities in Damascus have been courting Washington in hopes of receiving relief from harsh sanctions that were imposed by the US and its allies during al-Assad’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011 and the ensuing civil war.

A delegation of Syrian officials travelled to the US this week to attend World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington and UN meetings in New York.

It was unclear if Trump administration officials would meet with al-Shibani during the visit.

The Trump administration has yet to officially recognise the current Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, an Islamist former insurgent who led the offensive that toppled Assad.

Washington has also so far left sanctions on Syria in place, although it has provided temporary relief to some restrictions.

The militant group al-Sharaa led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, remains a US-designated terrorist organisation.

Two Republican members of Congress, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Cory Mills of Florida, arrived in Damascus last week on an unofficial visit organised by a Syrian-American non-profit and met with al-Sharaa and other government officials.

Mills said before meeting with al-Sharaa that “ultimately, it’s going to be the president’s decision” to lift sanctions or not, although he said that “Congress can advise”.

Mills later told Bloomberg News that he had discussed the US conditions for sanctions relief with al-Sharaa, including ensuring the destruction of chemical weapons left over from the al-Assad era, coordinating on counter-terrorism, making a plan to deal with foreign militants who fought alongside the armed opposition to Assad, and providing assurances to Israel that Syria would not pose a threat.

He also said that al-Sharaa had said Syria could normalise relations with Israel “under the right conditions”, but did not specify what those conditions are.

Other Western countries have warmed up to the new Syrian authorities more quickly. On Thursday, the British government lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets.

The European Union, meanwhile, has begun to ease some energy and transport sanctions and banking restrictions against Syria, suspending measures targeting oil, gas and electricity as well as transport, including the aviation sector.