"Ahmed al-Sharaa will travel to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York, where he plans to speak," a Syrian foreign ministry official said on 25/8, regarding the interim president's likely address next month.
This will mark the first time a Syrian leader has addressed the UN since former president Nureddin al-Atassi's appearance in 1967. It will also be the first time a leader of Syria's new government has participated in the UN General Assembly's high-level week, scheduled for 22-30/9.
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Interim Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Paris, France, on 7/5. Photo: AFP |
Interim Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Paris, France, on 7/5. Photo: AFP
Al-Sharaa assumed power last December after his Islamist group led a rebel alliance that overthrew Bashar al-Assad's government. Since becoming Syria's leader, he has garnered regional and international support.
Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani addressed the UN for the first time in April and raised the country's new flag at UN headquarters in New York.
Al-Sharaa met with US president Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia in May, a week after meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris during his first trip to the West.
The interim Syrian president remains under UN sanctions and a travel ban due to his former membership in an extremist Islamist group. He had to obtain a UN sanctions waiver to make these foreign trips.
Ngoc Anh (AFP)
