Today, Tuesday, Damascus International Airport resumed the departure and arrival of aircraft after being comprehensively rehabilitated following the fall of the Assad regime.
The Damascus Aviation Information Control Department stated yesterday, Monday, that Damascus International Airport may begin serving regular international flights starting at 08:00 local time on January 7.
The department stated, in a statement to TASS, that “the restrictions imposed on flight service, which required obtaining special permits from the country’s aviation authorities, will be lifted starting from the specified time.”
Local media reported that the first Syrian plane took off after the liberation to Sharjah Airport, carrying 145 passengers.
Syria’s Finance Minister reveals the size of the budget deficit set by Assad
In turn, Syrian Finance Minister Muhammad Abazid confirmed on Monday that the suspension of work on the 2025 budget approved by the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad came as a result of its large deficit, amounting to about 12 trillion Syrian pounds, and the current change in economic data.
Abazid said in an interview with the Syrian News Agency: “The twelve-year budget is temporary until the economic conditions are suitable for preparing a general budget for the state.”
He added: “A special increase will be offered to retirees’ salaries in later periods when their nominal financial statements become clear and audited.”
He continued, saying: “There are a number of tax decisions that are being prepared to lift the financial burdens on taxpayers, especially with regard to the tax on real profits and lump sum income. We reassure the owners of commercial and economic activities, industrialists, and merchants that in the coming period they will notice a tangible improvement in the tax system compared to what it was.” “It was the norm during the days of the former regime.”
Regarding the military personnel, Abazid said: “All military retirees before 2011 will receive their full salaries after auditing their nominal financial statements. As for active military personnel and those who retired after 2011, their names were presented to legal and legal committees to study them and reach recommendations regarding dealing with their salaries and the financial bloc.” “Their own.”
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry is communicating with the authorities in Damascus to reconsider the confiscation of Jalal Talabani’s apartment
In a related context, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry confirmed that ownership of former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s apartment in Damascus belongs to his family and that it is communicating with the new Syrian authorities to restore it.
Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shorsh Khaled Saeed, revealed that “Syrian forces entered the apartment and took its keys, believing that the previous regime had given them to Mam Jalal’s family.”
He stressed that the house had not been subjected to any tampering or vandalism, and that efforts were continuing to resolve the issue amicably.
An official memorandum was also sent to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirming that “the apartment belongs to Mam Jalal’s family, and that they bought it themselves in 1974.”
It is worth noting that Talabani’s apartment is located on the seventh floor of a building in the Al-Mazraa neighborhood in the capital, Damascus, and has an area of 150 square meters.
On January 4, forces affiliated with the Military Operations Department entered Talabani’s house in Damascus.
Its communications after the incident protested against it,” indicating that “the new administration in Syria was informed of the incident to take the necessary action.”
The late Iraqi President Jalal Talabani lived for a period in the Syrian capital, Damascus, in the 1970s.
The Netherlands is in contact with the new Syrian administration
In turn, the Netherlands announced that its special envoy to Syria, Gijs Gerlag, recently visited Damascus and held discussions with the new administration, which took power in the country after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
A statement issued by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yesterday, Monday, stated that Gerlag met, during his visit between January 2 and 4, with the Foreign Minister’s advisor to the new Syrian administration.
The statement indicated that this visit is considered the first contact between the two sides, indicating that there is no plan yet to open the Dutch embassy in Damascus.
He pointed out that the visit came to evaluate the current situation in Syria, especially developments in the security field.
As part of the visit, Gerlag also held discussions with officials of the United Nations Special Representative in Syria, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Damascus-based Humanitarian Aid Organizations Coordination Platform, and Christian clergy.
In turn, Dutch Foreign Minister Casper Veldkamp stressed that “a comprehensive and peaceful political transition is necessary in Syria.”
Veldkamp said in a post on his account on the “X” platform, “It would also be in the Netherlands’ interest to support stability in Syria, for example with the issues of the war against terrorism and the return of refugees.”
The “two largest armed factions” in Suwayda announce their readiness to join the new Syrian army
The two largest military factions in the Syrian Suwayda Governorate, with a Druze majority, announced a new “road map” for the next stage, aiming to build “a homeland based on justice and the rule of law,” and expressed their readiness “to integrate into a military body that forms the nucleus of a new national army,” after the overthrow. Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The announcement issued by the “Men of Dignity” faction and the “Liwa al-Jabal Brigade” faction in the Southern Governorate stressed that the end of Assad’s rule represents a historic opportunity to establish a just state, stressing that carrying weapons was “in defense of the people of Suwayda of all sects,” and that it was “a forced means and not very”.
The map also called for the establishment of a state in which weapons would be “the monopoly of a national military institution,” while emphasizing the readiness of the two factions to merge within a military body that forms the nucleus of a new national army that rejects “any factional or sectarian character,” according to a statement issued by them on Monday.
On December 8, Syrian factions extended their control over the capital, Damascus, and before that over other cities, ending 61 years of Baath Party rule and 53 years of Assad family control.
Last updated: January 7, 2025 – 13:26
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