A welcome guest? France first Western nation to host Syria's new leader
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Is this the right moment to roll out the red carpet for Syria’s new leader? France is the first Western country to welcome Ahmed al-Sharaa, who, with the toppling of Bashar al-Assad last December, shed his fatigues and his Islamist militia leader name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
The right moment? Yes, if it is time to fully scrap sanctions and help Syria’s economy recover from more than a decade of civil war. The new masters of Damascus say they need money and time to make good on their pledge of an inclusive country that protects its myriad of minorities.
Already, there have been missteps and bloodbaths, the most recent involving sectarian killings between Sunni militiamen and the Druze community – a community present across the borders of Lebanon and Israel. Israel also carried out strikes on Syria in the name of protecting the Druze. On that score, what message does Emmanuel Macron send to the Israelis when he welcomes al-Sharaa?
Syria was a protectorate of France until its independence in 1946, and in the not-so distant past: Bashar al-Assad was invited to Paris as a guest of honour on Bastille Day in 2008. With hindsight, not a good look despite Assad’s popularity with French conservative and far-right MPs. What’s the right approach this time?
