UN General Assembly: “Al-Shara” Attends, Taliban Absent

DID Press: Ahmed al-Shara (Joulani), head of Syria’s interim government, made history by attending UN General Assembly, breaking a nearly six-decade absence of high-level Syrian officials at the international body. Since 1967, no senior Syrian representative had participated in the assembly. The event comes amid sharp criticism from the Taliban’s caretaker government over their exclusion, which they have called “an injustice against Afghanistan people.”

Ahmed al-Shara arrived in New York on Sunday to participate in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. This marks the first Syrian presence at the assembly in almost sixty years, with the last official attendance dating back to 1967, before the onset of five decades of Assad family rule in Syria.

Al-Shara, leader of the terrorist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, is seeking to rebuild ties with Arab and Western countries. He aims to leverage the visit to push for sanctions relief and reconstruction of Syria’s war-torn economy and infrastructure. The United States has partially exempted some decades-old sanctions against Syria, but a full lifting would require congressional approval.

Separately, negotiations are ongoing for a security agreement with Israel, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described a deal as still out of reach.

Meanwhile, Taliban’s caretaker government criticized its exclusion from the assembly as “an injustice against Afghanistan people.” Afghanistan’s UN seat remains occupied by diplomats from the previous government led by Naseer Ahmad Faiq, and the Taliban’s caretaker administration has yet to be recognized by the UN.

A Taliban spokesperson stressed that absence from Security Council meetings diminishes the group’s influence and deprives them of opportunities to present their positions internationally and negotiate on sanctions. This comes as UN Secretary-General’s special envoy said Afghanistan is facing “a full-scale storm of crises.”