"Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, recently told the Financial Times newspaper that Syria is on a "knife-edge" and "risks turning into Libya" should promised changes stall. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa "needs to do what I call a course correction," Pedersen told the FT. The president needs to convince the population that "this is a new beginning" in the aftermath of the dictatorship of Bashar Assad, he said, "not a new autocratic regime.""
""The Syrian state never completely collapsed," he said, pointing to December 2024, when a coalition of rebel groups led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia who was headed by now President al-Sharaa ousted Assad. "While the country is partitioned into spheres of influence, local and international actors in Syria continue to operate in relation to this single central government," Hawach said."
Geir Pedersen warned Syria is on a knife-edge and risks turning into Libya if promised changes stall. President Ahmed al-Sharaa must perform a course correction and persuade the population that the new order constitutes a genuine new beginning rather than a new autocratic regime. Libya's 2011 NATO-backed revolt toppled Muammar Gadhafi and left the country divided into rival eastern and western administrations. Syria differs because its state never fully collapsed; in December 2024 a coalition led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ousted Assad and al-Sharaa became president. Regional neighbors and external powers oppose a fully failed Syrian state, while lack of trust between al-Sharaa's government and other communities remains a major challenge.
Read at www.dw.com
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