Albares will meet tomorrow Thursday with the Syrian leader, Ahmed al Shara, on his trip to Damascus
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, will meet tomorrow Thursday with the de facto leader of Syria, Ahmed al Shara, during the official trip he will make to Damascus as part of a new tour of the Middle East that also includes a visit this Wednesday to Lebanon, where he will meet with the country’s new president, Joseph Aoun.
The meeting with Al Shara will take place at his residence, the People’s Palace, and the Syrian Foreign Minister, Asaad al Shibani, will also be present, according to the official agenda of Albares’ trip.
This is the first time that Albares travels to Syria, where on December 8 a coalition fighting the Syrian regime, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahir al Sham (HTS), overthrew Assad. On his visit to Damascus, where Spain has reinforced its embassy with a special envoy to support the Charge d’affaires in the face of the change of Syrian Government, Albares will preside over the raising of the Spanish flag in the legation facilities, which was lowered with the departure of the ambassador in 2012 due to the war and has not been raised since then.
His agenda in the Syrian capital also includes meetings with leaders of the country’s ethnic and religious minorities and with women from civil society, as well as with humanitarian organizations, since one of the Executive’s priorities is for the new authorities to guarantee the integrity territorial and respect human rights, including those of minorities, whether ethnic or religious. Albares, who is in favor of maintaining “careful contacts” with the new rulers, also plans to go to the Sednaya prison, nicknamed the “human slaughterhouse,” in memory of the victims of the repression of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Before arriving in Damascus, the first stage of Albares’ tour will be Beirut, the Lebanese capital, where he plans to meet with the new president of the Republic, Joseph Aoun. In Beirut, Albares will hold high-level political meetings to address the situation in the country, after the parliamentary process resumed on January 9 with the Aoun election, clearing the way to resolve the institutional vacuum that the country has been experiencing since 2022. In this country will also hold a new meeting with Spanish General Aroldo Lázaro, in command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Finul), and with the general of the Armed Forces Lebanese, Joseph Aoun. With them he will analyze compliance with the two-month ceasefire agreement reached with Israel on November 27 to end the fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. He will personally convey to them Spain’s support for the redeployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces in the south of the country and will talk about the new stage of Finul, in which Spain participates with almost 700 soldiers of the more than 9,300 soldiers who act under its umbrella.
He will also meet with the United Nations special coordinator, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and with the Humanitarian special coordinator, Imran Riza, to address with them the humanitarian situation in the region. (Efe)
