BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Friday that Berlin was ready to support the transition to a “free and safe” future after the ouster of Bashar Assad.
Scholz expressed Berlin’s “willingness to support the reconstruction of Syria so that Syria can become a free and safe home for all” in an hour-long conversation with Al-Sharaa, the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, said in a statement.
In his first call with the new Syrian leader, Scholz “congratulated the Syrian people on their success in ending the Assad regime’s reign of terror.”
Al-Sharaa was appointed as Syria’s president at the end of January after militants toppled Assad, ending more than five decades of the family’s iron-fisted rule.
Scholz told the new Syrian leader he needed to lead an “inclusive political process ... that allows all Syrians, regardless of their ethnic or religious group,to participate.”
The chancellor also stressed “the ongoing importance of the fight against terrorism for security in Syria,” according to the statement.
Scholz said that Germany would work with European and international partners in this regard.
Al-Sharaa has been invited to visit Germany, his office said on Friday following the phone call.
The invitation came two days after Al-Sharaa’s office announced he had been invited to visit France.
Scholz and Al-Sharaa agreed on Syria’s need for an inclusive political process that allows the participation of all Syrians and provides rights and protection, the German spokesperson said.
“The Federal Chancellor underlined the ongoing importance of the fight against terrorism for security in Syria, the region and worldwide,” the spokesperson added.
Al-Sharaa has made a push to rebuild Syria’s diplomatic ties since his Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, spearheaded the overthrow of Assad.
However, the country faces a difficult transition amid unresolved territorial and governance challenges. Armed forces in the south, including from the Druze minority, have responded cautiously to the new authority in Damascus.
Also on Friday, Human Rights Watch warned that US aid suspensions could worsen “life-threatening conditions” in camps holding relatives of suspected extremists in northeast Syria, urging Washington to maintain support.
Kurdish-run camps and prisons in the region still hold around 56,000 people with alleged or perceived links to Daesh, years after the extremists’ territorial defeat.
They include suspects locked up in prisons, as well as the wives and children of Daesh fighters held in the Al-Hol and Roj internment camps.
“The US government’s suspension of foreign aid to non-governmental organizations operating in these camps is exacerbating life-threatening conditions, risking further destabilization of a precarious security situation,” HRW said in a statement.
The rights group said the aid freeze could “limit the provision of essential services for camp residents,” citing international humanitarian workers.
