Syrian President Speaks At UN After 60 Years, Pledges National Renewal

For the first time after 60 years, Syrian President addressed the United Nations General Assembly, declaring the country’s return to the international community after the Assad regime’s fall last December.

Associated Press quoted President Ahmed al-Sharaa as saying that Syria is returning to the international community after six decades of dictatorship that killed 1 million people and tortured hundreds of thousands.

He said the Syrian state has worked on forming fact-finding missions and gave the United Nations the right to investigate the killings that took place this year. “I promise to bring anyone whose hands are tainted with the blood of Syrian people to justice.”

“Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world. From

the very moment the former regime fell, we set out a clear strategic policy built upon three pillars – balanced diplomacy, security and stability, and economic development,” he said.

“Major regional and international companies have already begun entering the Syrian market, contributing through investment and reconstruction,” he said, while calling for the lifting of all sanctions so they no longer “shackle the Syrian people.”

Al-Sharaa was the first Syrian head of state to speak at the United Nations since Noureddine Attasi gave a speech in 1967 shortly after the Arab-Israeli war.

AP quoted Netanyahu’s office as saying in a statement that negotiations are underway with Syria adding that their conclusion “involves ensuring Israel’s interests, which include, among other things, the demilitarization of southwestern Syria and maintaining the safety and security of the Druze in Syria.”

During his speech, Al-Sharaa urged the Western countries to lift the sanctions that were imposed on Assad. “We call for lifting them completely so that they are not a tool to shackle the Syrian people,” he said.

In May, US President Donald Trump met with Al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia wherein he announced that the decades of sanctions imposed on Syria under the Assads’ rule would be lifted. He followed through by ordering a large swath of sanctions lifted or waived, AP reported.