French President Emmanuel Macron urged Syria's interim government to cooperate with a U.S.-led coalition fighting against extremist groups in that region as he hosted a conference Thursday on the Mideast country's future.
Macron's comments come amid uncertainty over the United States' commitment to the region. Thursday's conference in Paris among European and Arab nations was the third on Syria since the repressive government of Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December and was attended by Syria's interim foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani.
"Syria must very clearly continue to fight against all the terrorist organizations that are spreading chaos," Macron said. "If Syria decides to offer cooperation" with the international coalition, France would support the move, he added.
The Paris conference of foreign ministers and other officials from participating countries was meant to coordinate efforts to support a peaceful transition, as the new government in Damascus underlines its desire to improve relations with the West.
Integration of Kurdish-led forces
Macron also called on the Syrian interim government to "fully integrate" the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian transition, calling them "precious allies."
"I think your responsibility today is to integrate them and also to allow these forces to join in," he said.
On Thursday, Syrian organizers of a conference in Damascus to chart the country's political future said those talks will include all segments of Syrian society except for the Kurdish-led administration in the northeast and Assad loyalists.
Most of the country's former insurgent factions have agreed to dissolve and join the new Syrian army and security services, but the Kurdish-led SDF so far has refused to do the same. SDF forces have been clashing with Turkish-backed groups in northern Syria, and the Kurds are concerned about losing political and cultural gains they have made since carving out their own enclave in the northeast during the country's civil war.
Discussions are ongoing between the SDF and the government in Damascus.
Billions in aid needed
More aid is crucial to achieve a peaceful reconstruction during the post-Assad transition. The country needs to rebuild housing, electricity, water and transportation infrastructure after nearly 14 years of war. The United Nations in 2017 estimated that it would cost at least $250 billion, while some experts now say the number could reach at least $400 billion.
With few productive sectors and government employees making wages equivalent to about $20 per month, Syria has grown increasingly dependent on remittances and humanitarian aid. But the flow of aid was throttled after the Trump administration halted U.S. foreign assistance last month.
The effects were particularly dire in the country's northwest, a formerly rebel-held enclave that hosts millions of people displaced from other areas by the country's civil war. Many of them live in sprawling tent camps.
The freeze on USAID funding forced clinics serving many of those camps to shut down, and nonprofits laid off local staff.
A workshop bringing together key donors from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, the United Nations and key agencies from Arab countries will be held alongside the conference to coordinate international aid to Syria.
Doubts about US military support
Uncertainty also surrounds the future of U.S. military support in the region.
In 2019 during his first term, Trump decided on a partial withdrawal of U.S. troops from the northeast of Syria before he halted the plans. And in December last year, when rebels were on their way to topple Assad, Trump said the United States should not "dive into the middle of a Syrian civil war."
Now that Syria's new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, is trying to consolidate his power, the U.S. intentions in the region remain unclear. A U.S. official attended Thursday's conference in Paris.
