DAMASCUS, Syria — Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, has been invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to visit France in the coming weeks, his office announced on Thursday.
According to a Reuters report, the Syrian Presidential Office released a statement saying Sharaa had received a formal letter of invitation from Macron.
The statement also noted that the two leaders had held a phone conversation discussing the economic sanctions imposed on the Syrian people.
Ahmad Sharaa, who assumed leadership of Syria’s interim government following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, has previously visited Saudi Arabia and Turkey as part of his international outreach efforts.
Sharaa leads the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group that was formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda, but now operates as the primary governing authority in parts of Syria under opposition control. As interim leader, Sharaa has stated that holding presidential elections in Syria could take four to five years, although he has not provided specific reasons for the delay.
