BERLIN: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday pledged to work with Germany to enable more Syrians to return home and rebuild their country after its devastating civil war, as he made a historic visit to Berlin. Europe&#39;s top economy is home to the largest Syrian diaspora in the European Union at more than a million, many of whom arrived during the peak of the migrant influx in 2015-2016. After meeting Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Sharaa said that &quot;we are working with our friends in the German government to establish a &#39;circular&#39; migration model&quot;. This would &quot;enable Syrians to contribute to the reconstruction of their homeland without giving up the stability and lives they have built here, for those who wish to stay&quot;, he said. Merz, who has made a tougher immigration policy a priority since taking office last year, also said he and Sharaa were &quot;working jointly towards more Syrians being able to return to their homeland&quot;. Sharaa, 43, a former rebel leader, was speaking on his first trip to Germany since ousting his country&#39;s longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad in late 2024. He has managed to build relations with Western governments and made several overseas trips, including to the United States, France and Russia. As a result, many international sanctions on Syria have been lifted to help the country rebuild after a bloody 14-year civil war. &#39;Wealth of human resources&#39; Earlier, Sharaa told a foreign ministry forum in Berlin that Syria had experienced a &quot;huge amount of destruction&quot; during its long conflict, saying that Syrians &quot;want to catch up with the rest of the world&quot; as Germany did after World War II. He pointed to investment opportunities in Syria&#39;s energy, transport and tourism sectors, describing his homeland as very diverse and with &quot;a great wealth of human resources&quot;. Merz said Germany wanted to &quot;support&quot; reconstruction in Syria as it struggles to rebuild after a long and bloody civil war, adding that a German government delegation would travel to the Middle Eastern country in the next few days. However, Merz also said that he had stressed to Sharaa in their meeting &quot;that many joint projects in the future will depend on our finding a state governed by the rule of law&quot;. Rights campaigners have criticized Sharaa&#39;s Germany visit, pointing to his militant&nbsp;past and ongoing violence and instability in Syria. Protesters gathered in front of the foreign ministry on Monday waving Kurdish flags and placards, highlighting Sharaa&#39;s time as a&nbsp;militant. Near the chancellery, dozens of Syrians also turned out to welcome Sharaa, waving Syria&#39;s new revolutionary flag and a banner showing the president surrounded by hearts. The German Green party&#39;s foreign affairs spokeswoman Luise Amtsberg told AFP Germany should not engage in a &quot;premature normalization&quot; with Sharaa&#39;s government. Merz had reduced Syria policy to the question of returns &quot;and is ignoring the situation on the ground&quot;, she said. &#39;Authoritarian tendencies&#39; Since Sharaa has been in power, sectarian tensions have continued to cause repeated bloodshed in Syria, while the ISIS&nbsp;group remains at large. After Assad&#39;s overthrow, Israel moved its forces into the UN-patrolled demilitarized zone on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, and has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria as well as regular incursions. Sharaa was initially planning to visit Germany in January, but the trip was postponed as he sought to end fighting between government troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in his country&#39;s north. KGD, a group that represents the Kurdish community in Germany, has said that Sharaa &quot;bears responsibility for numerous human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity&quot;. Sophie Bischoff, president of the German-Syrian NGO Adopt A Revolution, told reporters that any support from the German government &quot;must be linked to clear conditions&quot; and warned that &quot;authoritarian tendencies are on the rise again in Syria&quot;.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (L) welcomes Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Chancellery in Berlin on March 30, 2026. (AFP)

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Middle East

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, on a Berlin visit, pledged cooperation with Germany to enable refugee returns and reconstruction, while critics warned against normalization of relations amid ongoing violence, instability and rights concerns within Syria.

Syrian leader pledges to work with Germany on migration, recovery

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;The US Congress on Wednesday permanently ended sanctions imposed on Syria under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, paving the way for the return of investment to the war-ravaged nation. President Donald Trump had already twice suspended the implementation of sanctions, in response to pleas from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, allies of the new government headed by former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa. But Sharaa had sought a permanent end to the sanctions, fearing that so long as the measures remained on the books they would deter businesses wary of legal risks in the world&#39;s largest economy. The Senate passed the repeal of the 2019 Caesar Act as part of a sweeping annual defense package. The Senate voted 77 to 20 in favor of the legislation, which was already approved by the House of Representatives and is expected to be signed by Trump. The repeal, broadly backed by lawmakers of both parties, &quot;is a decisive step toward giving the Syrian people a real chance to rebuild after decades of unimaginable suffering,&quot; said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Caesar Act, named after an anonymous photographer who documented atrocities in Assad&#39;s prisons, severely restricted investment and cut off Syria from the international banking system. The law was intended to prevent the influx of foreign businesses to rebuild Syria at a time when it had seemed that Assad had triumphed following more than a decade of brutal civil war that triggered a massive flow of refugees toward Europe and helped spawn the birth of the Islamic State extremist movement. Sharaa&#39;s fighters seized Damascus a year ago in a lightning offensive. Sharaa -- now dressed in a business suit and seeking better relations with the West -- has impressed Trump, including when they first met during the US leader&#39;s May trip to Riyadh.

US Congress permanently repealed Syria’s Caesar Act sanctions, ending Assad-era restrictions to encourage investment and reconstruction after war, following bipartisan approval and earlier suspensions by President Trump



US Congress ends Syria sanctions

QATAR: President Ahmed al-Sharaa warned Saturday that Israel&#39;s demand for a demilitarised zone in southern Syria would endanger his country, as Israeli forces continue to operate in the area. Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone, which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights since 1974. Sharaa&#39;s Islamist forces toppled Syria&#39;s longtime ruler, Bashar al-Assad, on Dec. 8 last year. Israel has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory since then, as well as carrying out bombings, and has said it wants a demilitarized zone in the country&#39;s south. Sharaa told the Doha Forum that Syria insists on the importance of the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, &quot;that has held for over 50 years -- in one way or another it is a successful agreement.&quot; Tampering with the deal, &quot;which enjoys international consensus and the consensus of the (UN) Security Council, and seeking other agreements such as a demilitarized zone ... could lead us to a dangerous place,&quot; he said. The United States is involved in negotiations between Israel and Syria to address the security concerns of both sides, Sharaa said, noting international support for Syria&#39;s demand that Israel withdraw to its pre-Dec. 8 positions. &quot;Syria is the one that is being subjected to Israeli attack ... so who should be the first to request a buffer zone and a withdrawal?&quot; he said. US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a security pact between Israel and Syria, told Israel on Monday to avoid destabilizing Syria and its new leadership. The remarks came after Israeli forces late last month killed at least 13 people in an operation in southern Syria that Israel&#39;s military said targeted an Islamist group and left six Israeli soldiers wounded. The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the operation as a &quot;war crime&quot; and accused Israel of wanting to &quot;ignite the region.&quot; In November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops deployed in the Golan Heights buffer zone, calling their presence immensely important to their country&#39;s security while drawing a sharp rebuke from Damascus and others in the region.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa warned that Israel's demand for a demilitarized zone in southern Syria would endanger his country, as Israeli forces continue to operate in the area

Sharaa says Israeli push for buffer zone would endanger Syria

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ISLAMABAD: Syria&rsquo;s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa sat for an interview with former&nbsp;Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)&nbsp;Director David Petraeus in New York earlier this week.&nbsp;Petraeus, who led US forces during the Iraq War, had once overseen the capture and imprisonment of al-Sharaa between 2006 and 2011.&nbsp;Once a militant leader opposing the US presence, Al-Sharaa founded the al-Nusra Front in 2012 to fight President Bashar al-Assad&rsquo;s regime. Initially aligned with al-Qaeda, the group severed ties in 2016 and merged into Hay&rsquo;at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in 2017, with Al-Sharaa as leader.&nbsp;HTS was designated a terrorist group by the US in 2018, but that designation was revoked in July 2025 following Assad&rsquo;s ouster and a shift in US policy. Al-Sharaa, who led the campaign that toppled Assad in late 2024, became Syria&rsquo;s interim president in January 2025. A $10 million US bounty on him was lifted in December 2024.&nbsp;A symbolic exchangeThe interview with Petraeus took place on the sidelines of the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit, a global affairs forum held in parallel with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The forum is known for convening political leaders, business executives, and civil society organizations to promote public-private collaboration and dialogue.&nbsp;Taking the stage together, both al-Sharaa and Petraeus acknowledged the unusual nature of their conversation.&nbsp;Petraeus concluded his interview with these remarks: &ldquo;We thank you for sharing your vision today. We wish you strength and wisdom in the difficult work ahead. We obviously hope for your success, inshallah, because at the end of the day, your success is our success.&rdquo;&nbsp;Al-Sharaa at UNAl-Sharaa&#39;s appearance at the UN General Assembly marked a historic moment: he is the first Syrian head of state to attend the assembly in nearly 60 years.&nbsp;His delegation arrived in New York on Sunday, and his schedule included meetings with various international representatives, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. On Monday, he addressed events held on the sidelines of the General Assembly.&nbsp;The Concordia Summit itself is a prominent event, having hosted more than 300 speakers and thousands of participants from over 100 countries in previous years. Past attendees include UN Secretary-General Ant&oacute;nio Guterres, former US President Joe Biden, and billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, former US Army General David Howell Petraeus

Petraeus, who interviews Syrian President al-Sharaa, once commanded US forces during the Iraq War and oversaw his capture and imprisonment from 2006 to 2011.

Al-Sharaa interviewed by former CIA director who arrested him

UNITED NATIONS: Turning the page on decades of distance, Syria&rsquo;s president addressed the UN General Assembly, marking the first time any president from his country has done so in almost 60 years.&nbsp;Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that Syria is returning to the international community after six decades of dictatorship that killed 1 million people and tortured hundreds of thousands.&nbsp;&ldquo;Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world,&rdquo; he told the assembly&rsquo;s annual gathering of world leaders.&nbsp;Al-Sharaa became the first Syrian head of state to speak at the United Nations since Noureddine Attasi gave a speech in 1967 shortly after the Arab-Israeli war, during which Damascus lost control of the Golan Heights that Israel later annexed in 1981.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Assad family dynasty&rsquo;s autocratic, repressive 50-year rule in Syria abruptly collapsed in December, when then-President Bashar Assad was ousted in a lightning insurgent offensive led by al-Sharaa. Assad&rsquo;s fall ended nearly 14 years of civil war.&nbsp;Al-Sharaa blasted Israel in his speech, saying that it did not stop its threats to his country since the fall of President Bashar Assad in December, adding that its policies &ldquo;contradict with the international community&rsquo;s support to Syria and its people&rdquo; and endanger the region.&nbsp;Negotiations have been underway for a security deal that al-Sharaa has said he hopes will bring about a withdrawal of Israeli forces and return to a 1974 disengagement agreement. While al-Sharaa said last week that a deal could be reached in a matter of days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in remarks Sunday, appeared to downplay the odds of a breakthrough.

Syria interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Syria’s president addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time in nearly 60 years, marking the country’s return after Assad’s ouster. Ahmad al-Sharaa condemned Israel and called for regional stability talks.

Syrian president addresses UN for first time in six decades

ISLAMABAD: Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced Monday that Syria and Israel have entered &quot;advanced stages&quot; of discussions concerning a return to the 1974 armistice line, calling it a non-negotiable first step before any broader peace agreement can be considered.&nbsp;Al-Sharaa made the statement during the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit in New York, coinciding with his official visit to the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held from September 23 to 29.&nbsp;The Syrian leader firmly ruled out Syria joining the Abraham Accords, citing key differences between Syria and the current signatory nations. &ldquo;There is a big difference between Syria and the countries that joined the Abraham Accords,&rdquo; he stated.&nbsp;Appointed president on January 29, 2025, by the Syrian General Command during the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference, al-Sharaa was formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq in the early 2000s.&nbsp;He presented three primary reasons for Syria&rsquo;s stance:&nbsp;<ul><li>Israel&rsquo;s continued occupation of the Golan Heights, which he described as Syrian land under international law.</li><li>The fact that Abraham Accords members do not have land occupied by Israel.</li><li>The lack of shared borders between Israel and those signatory states.</li></ul>&nbsp;Despite expressing willingness to de-escalate tensions, al-Sharaa accused Israel of repeated aggression since his administration took power, claiming nearly 1,000 airstrikes and 400 ground incursions, including two bombings of the presidential palace.&nbsp;Still, he confirmed Syria is engaged in a multi-phase negotiation process. The first phase centers on a security agreement that would see Israel return to the 1974 disengagement lines established after the Yom Kippur War.&nbsp;&ldquo;If this succeeds,&rdquo; al-Sharaa said, &ldquo;perhaps this scene will evolve to discuss other issues related to the occupied Golan and the future of the relationship.&rdquo;&nbsp;He concluded, &ldquo;Discussions are underway regarding the 1974 security or armistice agreement, and I believe we have reached advanced stages.&rdquo;

Ahmed al-Sharaa stated peace with Israel requires returning to the 1974 armistice line, rejecting the Abraham Accords and accusing Israel of ongoing aggression, while confirming advanced talks on a phased negotiation process.

Articles tagged with "Ahmed al Sharaa"

Syrian leader pledges to work with Germany on migration, recovery

US Congress ends Syria sanctions

Sharaa says Israeli push for buffer zone would endanger Syria

Al-Sharaa interviewed by former CIA director who arrested him

Syrian president addresses UN for first time in six decades

Israel must return to 1974 armistice line before peace talks: Syrian president