Top EU diplomats visit Syria, tour ousted Assad regime’s notorious Sednaya prison, call for inclusive leadership

Damascus — The European Union backs a peaceful, inclusive transition in Syria, top French and German diplomats said Friday as they visited Damascus to meet with new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were in the Syrian capital for talks on behalf of the European Union, in the highest-level visit by major Western powers since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.

One of their first stops was the notorious Sednaya prison, not far from the capital. 

Accompanied by White Helmet rescuers, Barrot and Baerbock toured the cells and underground dungeons of Sednaya, which for decades stood as a fearsome symbol of the atrocities committed against Assad’s opponents.

The prison was the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances. An advocacy group said more than 4,000 people were freed from the detention facility when rebel forces took Damascus on December 8. Countless other inmates — both criminals and Assad opponents — simply vanished after being incarcerated there.

In 2017, the U.S. State Department said the Assad regime was using a crematorium at Sednaya to dispose of dead bodies in an effort to “cover up” the mass murders it was carrying out there.

“Fragile hope” for a “stable and peaceful” Syria

Sharaa, head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led the offensive that toppled Assad. The HTS-dominated interim authorities now face the daunting task of rebuilding state institutions, with growing calls to ensure an inclusive transition and guarantee minority rights.

Barrot, in Damascus, expressed hope for a “sovereign, stable and peaceful” Syria.

It was also a “hope that the aspirations of all Syrians can be realized,” he added, “but it is a fragile hope.”

In a statement, Baerbock said Germany wanted to help Syria become a “safe home” for all its people, and a “functioning state, with full control over its territory.”

She said the visit was a “clear signal” to Damascus of the possibility for a new relationship between Syria and Germany, and Europe more broadly.

The European diplomats’ closed meeting with Sharaa on Friday lasted about an hour and a half, and they did not give formal statements to journalists afterward.

Earlier, in a post in X, Barrot said: “Together, France and Germany stand alongside the Syrian people, in all their diversity.”

He added that the two European powers wanted to promote a “peaceful transition” to a new government in the country.

Despite “skepticism” about HTS — which was previously the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda and remains designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and numerous other governments — Baerbock said that “we must not miss the opportunity to support the Syrian people at this important crossroads.”

Sharaa has distanced himself and HTS from al-Qaeda in recent years, and the group’s public statements have suggested plans to respect Syria’s myriad religious groups.

The Biden administration said after Assad fled to Russia that the U.S. could recognize a new Syrian government under certain conditions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the new leadership and the transition process must ensure the protection of Syria’s minority groups, a flow of humanitarian aid into the country, prevent Syria from being used as a base for terrorist organizations, and help ensure that any chemical and biological weapons are secured and destroyed.

Baerbock said Friday that Berlin stood ready to support “an inclusive and peaceful transfer of power” as well as social “reconciliation” in Syria.

She also asked the new regime to avoid “acts of vengeance against groups within the population,” to avoid a long delay before elections, and to avert any attempts at the “Islamization” of the judicial and education systems.

Since Assad’s ousting, a bevy 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.

At the start of his visit, Barrot met with representatives of Syria’s Christian communities. Diplomatic sources said Barrot told the Christian leaders that France was committed to a pluralistic Syria with equal rights for all, including minority groups.

Syria’s civil war — which started in 2011 with the Assad government’s brutal repression of pro-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 and ravaged.

The new authorities have called for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Syria under Assad to allow for reconstruction.

Paris is due to host an international summit on Syria later this month, following a similar meeting in December in Jordan.