Ahmed el-Sharaa in Moscow
• Self-proclaimed Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa paid an official visit to Russia, where his predecessor, Bashar al-Assad, now lives. He has asked for his extradition.
• The meeting with Russian President Putin lasted two and a half hours according to Russian media. Russian deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that the delegations discussed the delivery of humanitarian aid to Damascus, as well as projects in the fields of energy, transport, tourism, health and culture.
• The meeting was preceded by a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on October 8, according to which: "A clear task that could benefit Syrians, their neighbors and many other countries is to create a humanitarian hub, using their ports and airports to deliver humanitarian supplies from Russia and the Persian Gulf states to Africa. There is a shared understanding that this will be in demand, and we are prepared to coordinate the details. The matter has, in principle, been discussed, and there is mutual interest."
☞ Ahmed el-Sharaa, former second-in-command of Daesh under the pseudonym "Abu Mohammed al-Joulani", is a British agent. He conquered Syria with the support and backing of the Turkish army in order to put the Muslim Brotherhood in power.
☞ The self-proclaimed Syrian president’s visit to Russia seems to normalize relations between the two countries, against the backdrop of the Israeli occupation. He had already asked the Russian army to carry out patrols in regions where he is unable to maintain order. He also decided to continue having Syrian banknotes printed in Russia. During the war against Bashar El Assad, Ahmed al-Sharaa benefited from the air support of the Israeli army, but today he’s struggling to expel it from the country. He is therefore attempting to rely on Russia, even if it means expelling it later.
This is the editorial from our paywalled "Voltaire, international newsletter", n°147. For more information, do not hesitate to subscribe: 500€ per year.
Translation
Gregor Fröhlich