Taking the stage at a political discussion board in New York Metropolis for an interview, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and retired four-star United States Common David Petraeus have acknowledged the peculiarity of the scenario.
Al-Sharaa, who overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad and ended his household’s 50-year rule of Syria in a blazing military offensive late final yr, has been president since January.
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Petraeus commanded US forces throughout their invasion of Iraq – forces who captured and imprisoned al-Sharaa from 2006 to 2011 for combating in opposition to the invasion. Petraeus later served because the director of the Central Intelligence Company (CIA).
After his launch, al-Sharaa established the al-Nusra Entrance in Syria in 2012 to combat al-Assad. 4 years later, it severed its ties with al-Qaeda. A yr later, al-Nusra merged with different teams to kind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by al-Sharaa.
HTS was designated a “terrorist organisation” by the US in 2018, citing previous ties to al-Qaeda, a designation the US revoked in July as Washington softened its strategy to post-Assad Syria.
The US had positioned a $10m bounty on al-Sharaa’s head, lifting it solely in late December.
Significance of timing and venue
Al-Sharaa arrived in New York on Sunday to attend the United Nations Common Meeting, the primary Syrian head of state to take action in almost six decades.
The president and his giant delegation held conferences, together with with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the chief addressed occasions on the sidelines of the Common Meeting on Monday.
With Petraeus, he then participated within the 2025 Concordia Annual Summit, a world affairs discussion board held alongside the Common Meeting that brings collectively world leaders, enterprise executives and NGO figures to foster public-private partnerships and dialogue.
Final yr, Concordia stated it had greater than 300 audio system, together with 9 heads of state, and greater than 3,600 attendees from 112 nations. Previous contributors embody UN Secretary-Common Antonio Guterres, US enterprise titan Warren Buffett and former US President Joe Biden.
Why is Petraeus a ‘fan’ of al-Sharaa?
The previous US basic not solely acknowledged the odd pairing however used it to reward al-Sharaa, who has set an October date for parliamentary elections in Syria.
“His trajectory from rebel chief to go of state has been one of the dramatic political transformations in current Center Jap historical past,” Petraeus advised the viewers.
Later within the interview, he confirmed concern for the Syrian chief’s private wellbeing, asking whether or not he’s getting sufficient sleep. Petraeus stated al-Sharaa has “many followers” and that he’s considered one of them.
“At a time, we had been in fight and now we transfer to discourse,” al-Sharaa stated with a smile when requested about their historical past, including that individuals who have gone via warfare know the significance of peace.
“We can not choose the previous primarily based on the principles of immediately and can’t choose immediately primarily based on the principles of the previous,” the Syrian president stated.
Speaking about his time as an al-Qaeda commander, al-Sharaa stated “possibly there have been errors” earlier than however what issues now’s defending the Syrian folks and the area from instability.
“Our dedication to that line is what introduced us right here immediately to [New York], sitting right here amongst allies and pals.”
Al-Sharaa stated he believed he was combating for a “noble” trigger that deserves help.
Requested about deadly sectarian violence in Syria this yr, he stated the al-Assad regime had left Syria in chaos and “all events made errors, together with components of the federal government”, throughout the violence.
He added {that a} newly fashioned council is investigating and would prosecute all violators.
He stated the Syrian folks have rallied across the new authorities and the financial improvement and unification of Syria are the priorities now.
On this vein, he reiterated his request for the US Congress to revoke the Caesar Syria Civil Safety Act of 2019, which sanctions Syria.
The president reiterated his stance on defending Syria’s minorities, together with the Kurdish inhabitants within the north, whose rights have to be protected within the structure. Nevertheless, he added, Kurdish armed forces should not function outdoors the state’s auspices as the federal government and its military have to be the one entity with weapons.
The Syrian chief talked about Israel as nicely, declaring that Israel has attacked Syria greater than 1,000 occasions since al-Assad fell and continues to occupy the Golan Heights.
Nevertheless, al-Sharaa stated Syria is targeted on rebuilding and avoiding one other warfare, so safety talks are below means with Israel to succeed in an settlement primarily based on a 1974 disengagement deal that was mediated by the US.
