The Foreign Minister of the new Syrian administration, Asaad Al-Shaibani, announced on Tuesday that “the administration led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa will wait” in organizing the upcoming national conference, which aims to bring together Syrians from different sects to “create the political identity” of the country after the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad. “While a member of the conference coordination committee suggested that it would be organized next February.
Official media quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani as saying, on Tuesday, that Syria will wait to organize the national conference so that an expanded preparatory committee can be formed to accommodate comprehensive representation of Syria from all segments and governorates.
The conference aims to bring together Syrians of various orientations to engage in dialogue and chart a new path for the country, after the opposition overthrew President Bashar al-Assad and his flight to Russia.
Al-Shaibani said: “We are waiting for the National Conference, so that an expanded preparatory committee can be formed that accommodates the comprehensive representation of Syria from all segments and governorates, which will be a cornerstone in establishing the political identity of the future Syria.”
Two sources said that visiting diplomats and envoys informed the new administration in Syria in the past few days that it is better not to rush to hold the conference to improve its chances of success rather than reach mixed results.
According to sources told Reuters earlier, the new government has not yet decided on a date for the conference. A number of members of opposition groups recently said they had not received invitations.
Al-Sharaa inspects Damascus Airport as international flights resume
The leader of the new administration in Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, visited Damascus International Airport on Tuesday, with the resumption of international flights there.
The Syrian News Agency (SANA) said that Al-Sharaa Kanem was “on an inspection visit to Damascus International Airport on the first day of its opening,” without giving further details, only publishing some pictures of the visit.
International flights resumed at Damascus Airport, on Tuesday, for the first time since the overthrow of the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad following the control of the opposition factions led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which was led by al-Sharaa, over the largest Syrian cities, all the way to the capital.
Damascus International Airport Director Anis Falouh told Agence France-Presse: “A new beginning after the airspace was closed. The reception and departure of international flights began.”
Falouh pointed out that the airport worked in recent days to “receive official delegations and aid planes, and today the first (commercial) flight departs from Syria towards Sharjah.”
During the recent period, the airport received planes transporting international aid or carrying foreign officials, and it resumed operating domestic flights earlier.
Qatar Airways announced on Thursday that it would resume its flights to Damascus, which were halted following the outbreak of war in Syria more than 13 years ago.
The company said in a statement that it “will operate 3 flights weekly to Damascus, starting January 7, 2025.” On December 18, a plane took off from Damascus Airport to Aleppo (north), on the first flight after the fall of Assad on the eighth of the same month.
Last updated: January 8, 2025 – 15:59
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