UN envoy meets Syria’s Sharaa, urges inclusive transition | U.S. & World [Video]

By Timour Azhari

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – The U.N.’s Syria envoy urged an inclusive Syrian transition based on a nine-year-old Security Council resolution during a meeting with the commander of Syria’s new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the envoy’s office said on Monday.

Syria’s ruling General Command, in a separate statement about Sunday’s meeting with the U.N.’s Geir Pedersen, said they had discussed the need to review Security Council Resolution 2254, saying it needed to be updated to “suit the new reality”.

The meeting marked one of the most significant international encounters yet for Sharaa, leader of the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which has emerged as the ruling power in Damascus since toppling Bashar al-Assad just over one week ago.

Photos of the meeting showed Sharaa, whose group was an al-Qaeda affiliate until it severed ties with the jihadist network in 2016, wearing a blazer and open shirt as he met Pedersen, the U.N. Syria …