European ministers urge inclusive transition on Syria visit

The French and German foreign ministers called for a peaceful, inclusive transition in Syria as they visited Damascus Friday for talks with new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

France's Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock are the most senior Western diplomats to visit the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.

Baerbock told Sharaa that the European Union stood ready to support the transition in Syria but warned that "Europe will not finance new Islamist structures".

"This is not only in our security interests but also what I have heard time and again from very many Syrians in Germany... and here in the region," she said.

She called for "an inclusive, peaceful transfer of power, reconciliation, and reconstruction".

"This requires a political dialogue involving all ethnic and religious groups, involving men and equally women."

HTS, which is rooted in the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, has sought to reassure minorities that they will not be harmed, although several incidents have sparked protests.

On December 24, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near the central city of Hama.

Earlier, Barrot met with Christian leaders. Diplomatic sources said he told them France was committed to a pluralistic Syria with equal rights for all, including minority groups.

 Fighting in north  

After separate talks with representatives of Syria's long-repressed civil society, Barrot called for a "political solution" with the Western-backed Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria.

"A political solution must be reached with France's allies, the Kurds, so that they are fully integrated into this political process that is beginning today," Barrot said.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a key Western ally against the Islamic State jihadist group, has been under renewed attack by Turkish-backed factions in northern Syria since late last year.

In the latest clashes around the battleground northern town of Manbij, at least 24 fighters were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Thursday, despite US-led efforts to establish a truce in the area.

Baerbock urged Syria's neighbours to "respect its territorial integrity and sovereignty" and said "the security of the Kurds is also essential for a peaceful Syria".

"This requires an end to the fighting in the north and the integration of the Kurdish forces... in the Syrian security architecture," she said.

Barrot spoke with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi on Thursday to discuss "the ongoing transition in Syria", the French foreign ministry said.

Turkey has mounted multiple operations against the SDF since 2016, and Ankara-backed groups have captured several Kurdish-held towns in northern Syria in recent weeks.

Turkey accuses the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), of being affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which both Washington and Ankara blacklist as a terrorist group.

The Kurds fear for their de facto autonomy in the northeast, with Sharaa last week telling Al Arabiya television that the Kurdish-led forces should be integrated into the new national army.

Since Assad's ouster, a succession of foreign envoys have travelled to Damascus to meet with the country's new leaders.

France and Germany had both already sent lower-level delegations last month.

The country's civil war -- which started in 2011, sparked by the Assad government's brutal repression of democracy protests -- saw Germany, France and a host of other countries shutter their diplomatic missions in Damascus.

The conflict killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and left Syria fragmented, its people impoverished and infrastructure ravaged.

Earlier, the European ministers toured the notorious Saydnaya prison outside Damascus which became a byword for torture and extrajudicial executions carried out under Assad's brutal rule.

An advocacy group said more than 4,000 prisoners were freed from the jail when rebel forces took control on December 8.