United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Syria this Saturday, marking the first visit by a sitting UN chief since the outbreak of the country’s civil war in 2011—a conflict that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions of people to flee their homes.
The visit represents another significant milestone for Syria following the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad by rebel forces at the end of 2024, bringing the war to an end and ushering in a transitional period led by the country’s new authorities, Reuters reports, as cited by RKS News.
During his stay in Damascus, Guterres is expected to meet with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, other government officials, and representatives of civil society.
According to UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres will emphasize that Syria now has a historic opportunity not only to recover from years of conflict but also to lay the foundations for a more stable, inclusive, and prosperous state for all its citizens.
The visit comes just weeks after two bombs exploded near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron had stayed during the first visit by a European Union head of state to Syria since Assad’s removal from power.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government is working to rebuild Syria’s international relations and revive its economy after nearly 14 years of war and decades of isolation.
However, the transitional period has also been marked by outbreaks of sectarian violence, with around 1,500 Alawites reportedly killed in the country’s coastal region and hundreds of members of the Druze minority killed in southern Syria. Guterres has expressed concern over these incidents and has called for accountability and justice.
The UN Secretary-General is expected to remain in Syria for several days. On Monday, he is scheduled to address the newly established Syrian parliament and visit the longstanding UN peacekeeping mission overseeing the buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces.
