The honors of the Republican Guard for a first official visit to a Western country, then two hours of interview with a press conference in the village hall of the Elysée: the Syrian leader and former jihadist chief, Ahmed al-Charaa, was received on Wednesday May 7 by Emmanuel Macron, while the new German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, had just left the presidency.
The arrival in France of the leader of the movement which overthrew Bashar al-Assad was delayed by the massacres that occurred in March in the west of the country, which left more than 1,600 dead, mostly Alawites, a community from which the fallen dictator comes. Since then, fighting with the Druzes have, in recent days, have fed questions about the ability of the new power to control some of the combatants affiliated to it.
Faced with his guest, Mr. Macron repeated the demands of France, anxious at the same time to reconnect with Syria, thirteen years after the breakdown of diplomatic relations following the deadly repression led by the old regime against opposition movements, and to weigh on the transition in order to stabilize the country. He asked his visitor to “Do everything to ensure the protection of all Syrians without exception, whatever their origin, their religion, their confession, their opinions”.
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