In the shadow of the demand for an Israeli withdrawal: UN Secretary-General arrives for a historic visit to Syria
António Guterres will be the first UN Secretary-General to visit the country since the outbreak of the war in 2011. He will meet with President Ahmad al-Sharaa, address the new parliament, and reach the buffer zone between Israel and Syria.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres will visit Syria today, Saturday, in the first visit by a sitting Secretary-General to the country since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. It is the first visit by the head of the organization to the country since 2009.
During his visit, which is expected to last several days, Guterres will meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who previously headed the al-Qaeda branch in the country and was subject to UN Security Council sanctions until last November due to his ties to terrorism. He will also meet with Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani, senior government officials, and representatives of civil society.
According to UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres is expected to emphasize that Syria has been given an opportunity not only to recover from the war but also to lay the foundations for a more stable, inclusive, and prosperous future for all its citizens. On Monday, he is scheduled to address the new Syrian parliament.
The visit comes after a war that lasted nearly 14 years, claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and led to the displacement of millions. Al-Sharaa, who severed his ties with al-Qaeda in 2016, led a coalition of Islamist rebel factions that ousted Assad in a lightning offensive in December 2024. Since coming to power, his government has been working to rehabilitate the country's economy and renew its diplomatic ties, beyond the traditional allies of the Assad family — Russia and Iran.
Last year, al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president since 1967 to participate in the UN General Assembly in New York. The United States has lifted most of the comprehensive sanctions on Syria, and President Donald Trump informed al-Sharaa earlier this month of his intention to remove the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
In the shadow of tension
The UN Secretary-General is also expected to visit the organization's peacekeeping force, which has been stationed for decades in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria. Since the ousting of Assad, Israeli forces have been present in new areas in southern Syria.
The visit also takes place just weeks after two bombs exploded near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron was staying during his visit to the country — the first by a head of state from the European Union since the fall of the Assad regime.
