The Albany Gazette - Jordanian, Qatari envoys hold talks with Syria's new leader

Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, has welcomed envoys from the Middle East and beyond in recent days, including Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday.

Visiting Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi expressed his country's support for Syria's reconstruction in a meeting with Sharaa on Monday, in the first trip to Syria by a senior Jordanian official since Assad was toppled.

Images released by the foreign ministry showed the pair shaking hands, while Jordan's official Al-Mamlaka TV reported that Safadi had discussed avenues of cooperation, including in the areas of trade, border management, aid and electricity connections, along with security.

Safadi expressed support for "a government that represents all spectrums in Syria", as well as for "the drafting of a new constitution", according to Al-Mamlaka.

"We agree to support the Syrian people in rebuilding their state," he was quoted as saying, adding that "the Arab countries agree to support Syria at this stage without any external interference".

- Qatari delegation -

Also in Damascus on Monday was Qatar's minister of state at the foreign ministry, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, leading the "first high-level Qatari delegation" to Damascus "after 13 years of diplomatic rupture", his ministry said.

"This visit reaffirms the strong fraternal ties" between Qatar and Syria, and underscored Doha's "unwavering commitment to supporting and assisting the Syrian people in their quest for progress, while preserving Syria's sovereignty", the foreign ministry statement added.

Syrian state news agency SANA published images of the meeting between Sharaa and the Qatari delegation.

"The Qatari side expressed its inclination to launch vast investments in Syria in various fields, especially the energy sector," Sharaa told reporters after the meeting.

Khulaifi said Syria and its people "need support in this important stage... That calls for concerted effort from all, notably concerning the lifting of sanctions and future development projects."

The Red Cross on Monday separately launched an emergency appeal for 130 million Swiss francs ($145 million) to aid millions of Syrians returning to destroyed homes and neighbourhoods.

"Entire towns and villages have been flattened in over a decade of hostilities," the body's regional director, Hossam Elsharkawi, said in Geneva.

Khulaifi, the Qatari minister, arrived in Damascus aboard "the first Qatar Airways plane to land at the Syrian airport" since Assad's ouster, foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari wrote on X.

A Qatari official told AFP that "a technical aviation team" accompanied the delegation "to assess the readiness of Damascus airport to resume operations".

- Saudi talks -

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in Kosovo, said his country is also making contact with Syria's new rulers.

"We want to be an active part of the reunification of the situation in Syria, of pacification and stabilisation," he said, according to the ANSA news agency.

A source close to the Saudi government told AFP on Monday that a delegation from the kingdom had also met with Sharaa in Damascus a day earlier to discuss the "Syria situation and captagon", an illegal amphetamine-like stimulant.

The drug has flooded the region in recent years, and was Syria's largest export under Assad.

Jordan in recent years has cracked down on the smuggling of weapons and drugs, including captagon, along its 375-kilometre (230-mile) border with Syria.

Iran said Monday that it had "no direct contact" with Syria's new rulers since the fall of longtime Tehran ally Assad.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei expressed support for Syria's sovereignty, and said the country should not become "a haven for terrorism".

Sharaa's HTS is rooted in Al-Qaeda's Syria branch, but has sought to moderate its image in recent years.

At a summit in Jordan earlier this month, top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war. They also stressed the importance of combating "terrorism and extremism".

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(O.Robinson--TAG)