President Ahmad Al Shara and a Syrian Kurdish militia leader failed to meet as expected on Wednesday during a visit to Damascus by US special envoy Thomas Barrack, sources said.
It was a setback to US-sponsored moves to resolve the biggest obstacle to reuniting Syria after its 13-year civil war.
The sources did not reveal why the meeting in Damascus did not go ahead between Mr Al Shara and Mazloum Abdi, the head of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces militia that controls large parts of eastern Syria.
The two were expected to discuss ways to bring the SDF under the control of the Syrian army command. “We are more far away from a grand bargain,” an SDF official told The National.
Mr Barrack held a meeting with Mr Al Shara, state media said, without revealing details of their discussions.
The SDF official said Mr Abdi had gone to Damascus confident that there would be no “sidelining of the SDF”.
The official said the SDF has been buoyed by the Pentagon's allocation of $130 million for groups in Syria with which it has linked up in counter-ISIS operations, mainly the SDF, in its 2026 budget.
Mr Barrack told AP after meetings in Damascus that significant differences remain between the two sides. He also told Rudaw Media Network that the SDF has been "slow" in negotiating with the Syrian government and that federalism "doesn't work."
“I think SDF has been slow in accepting and negotiating and moving towards that, and my advice to them is to speed that,” Mr Barrack said. “There is only one road and that road is to Damascus.”
US backing for the SDF has prevented Mr Al Shara from consolidating his control over the country since the removal of his predecessor Bashar Al Assad in December.
The March 10 agreement between Mr Al Shara and Mr Abdi faltered after the SDF convened a conference of Kurdish political groups in April that demanded that Syria be governed under a federal system.
“It is neither in the interest of Al Shara or any of the international players for the SDF to weaken, because it would mean the resurgence of ISIS,” the official said.
He said Mr Barrack had proposed that the SDF becomes formally part of the Syrian armed forces but retains its Kurdish commanders, a “symbolic” arrangement akin to Syrian armed groups that are proxies of Turkey joining the army in February. Many of these units retained their command structure and their Turkmen commanders.
However, the SDF's position as Washington's main ally in Syria has been undermined after US began normalising ties with its new government in May, and putting more focus on stabilising the country.
The US lifted sanctions on Syria last month and on Monday revoked the terror designation of the hardline Hayat Tahrir Al Sham rebel group, a former affiliate of Al Qaeda, to which Mr Al Shara and many members of the new government belonged.
Turkey, a major backer of Mr Al Shara's government, considers the SDF a separatist group that threatens its national security, because of its ties with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which waged a 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state.
Turkey is involved in a process to disarm and dissolve the PKK.
Omer Ozkizilcik, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, said the US was using its sway to urge the SDF to accept integration into Damascus-controlled armed forces.
“The March 10 agreement was not proceeding due to stalling by the SDF,” he told The National. “It appears that the US is using its influence to move things forward and force the SDF to accommodate the demands of Damascus."
Both Damascus and Ankara, which has significant influence over the new Syrian authorities, had given the SDF "olive branches," including some form of local governance, he added.
“But they thought they are in a position to dictate terms.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
The specs
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Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
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BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
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AGL AWARDS
Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
MO
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EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
The Greatest Royal Rumble card
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
