Syria expects to finalise security and military agreements with Israel this year, an official said Thursday, in what would be a breakthrough less than a year after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.
With the United States pushing for a settlement between the two neighbours, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Washington to discuss talks with Israel and the possible lifting of remaining sanctions on Syria, said the foreign ministry official.
Syria and Israel remain technically at war, but opened direct negotiations after Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led coalition in December last year.
“There is progress in the talks with Israel,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief the media, adding that several agreements were expected to be signed “by the end of the year”.
“Primarily, these would be security and military agreements,” he told AFP, adding there would be a focus on “an agreement to halt (Israeli) military operations inside Syria”.
Since December, Israel has deployed troops in a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates the countries’ forces and launched hundreds of strikes in Syria. Damascus has not retaliated.
Last week, President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Syria was negotiating with Israel to reach a security agreement that would see Israel leave the areas it occupied in recent months.
Syrian and Israeli officials have met on several occasions, and a diplomatic source, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said a new meeting would be held in Baku on Friday.
According to US news outlet Axios, Shaibani met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in London on Wednesday.
The two men had previously met in August in Paris, under the auspices of the US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.
– Sharaa at UN –
Israel demands a demilitarised zone in southern Syria and a military official told AFP the Syrian military withdrew all heavy weaponry from the area.
The United States has been pushing Syria and Israel to reach an agreement that would halt hostilities between the two countries, technically at war since 1948.
Syrian state television said Shaibani landed in Washington on Thursday for an official visit.
The foreign ministry official said the purpose of the trip was to discuss the ongoing negotiations with Israel and the lifting of remaining US sanctions on Syria.
The United States already lifted most sanctions it imposed on Syria during Assad’s rule after the Islamist-led rebel alliance overthrew him.
The last time a Syrian foreign minister was in Washington was in 1999, when the top diplomat at the time, Farouk al-Sharaa, held talks on peace negotiations with Israel.
In a statement to state news agency SANA, the foreign ministry said Shaibani’s “historic” visit “reflects Syria’s openness to direct dialogue with the United States, seeking to open a new chapter in relations”.
Shaibani previously visited the United Nations headquarters in New York in April, when he raised his country’s new flag.
Sharaa is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, the first Syrian leader to do so since Nureddin al-Atassi in 1967.
The interim Syrian president remains under United Nations sanctions and a travel ban due to his past as a wanted jihadist, and must request exemptions for all foreign trips.
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© Agence France-Presse
