Syria's foreign minister raises independence flag at UN in first US visit

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani raised his country’s flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York Friday and attended a UN Security Council briefing, the first public appearance by a high-ranking Syrian government official in the United States since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December.

The three-starred flag that had previously been used by opposition groups has replaced the two-starred flag of the Assad era as the country's official emblem.

The new authorities in Damascus have been courting Washington in hopes of receiving relief from harsh sanctions that were imposed by the U.S. and its allies in the wake of Assad’s brutal crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011 that spiraled into a civil war.

Shibani "raises the new Syrian flag in front of the United Nations building in New York", Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Images showed Shibani raising the three-starred flag officially adopted after the December ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. The flag had become a symbol of the revolt against Assad's repressive rule.

In an interview with Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, Shibani said raising the new flag was a step "Syrians had been waiting for, for 14 years" since Assad repressed peaceful protesters, igniting a civil war.

The move was "not just a symbolic step" but "salutes the memory of the Syrian people and it crowns their victory", he added.

AFP images later showed Shibani attending a Security Council meeting on Syria, during his first visit to the UN since rebel forces toppled Assad.

The diplomat once again urged the international community to lift Assad-era sanctions to allow for relief and economic development.

The sanctions "are the obstacle to the return of refugees, to stability, to investments, and to the revival of the infrastructure destroyed by the Assad regime", he said.

A delegation of Syrian officials traveled to the United States this week to attend World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington and UN meetings in New York.

The Trump administration has yet to officially recognize the current Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, an former insurgent who led the offensive that toppled Assad.

Washington has also so far left the sanctions in place, although it has provided temporary relief to some restrictions.

The group al-Sharaa led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, remains a U.S.-designated terrorist organisation.

Two Republican members of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana and Rep. Cory Mills of Florida, arrived in Damascus last week on an unofficial visit organized by a Syrian-American nonprofit and met with al-Sharaa and other government officials.

Mills told news agency The Associated Press before meeting with al-Sharaa that “ultimately, it’s going to be the president’s decision” to lift sanctions or not, although he said that "Congress can advise."

Mills later told Bloomberg News that he had discussed the U.S. conditions for sanctions relief with al-Sharaa, including ensuring the destruction of chemical weapons left over from the Assad era, coordinating on counter-terrorism, making a plan to deal with foreign fighters who fought alongside the armed opposition to Assad, and providing assurances to Israel that Syria would not pose a threat.

He also said that al-Sharaa had said Syria could normalize relations with Israel "under the right conditions," without specifying what those conditions are.

Other Western countries have warmed up to the new Syrian authorities more quickly. The British government on Thursday lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets, and the European Union has begun to roll back its sanctions.