Western 'failures' Distrust built up over 14 years may hamper reform

The UN special envoy for Syria will urge the security council to back a transition to a pluralist democratic Syria, but faces resistance within the country.

- Patrick Wintour

The interim government fears the lifting of sanctions will be tied to excessive demands imposed by the west, with suspicion of the UN deeply embedded after what are seen as its failures during 14 years of civil war.

Ahmed al-Sharaa, the country's de facto leader, has insisted that his group, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), long ago transformed itself from a Salafi jihadi group in Idlib province to a technocratic force willing to accommodate all Syrians.

Western leaders and the UN, however, are reluctant to go further than temporary waivers on some sanctions without clear guarantees about the nature of the transitional government due to take power in March.

The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, last week insisted during a visit to Damascus that Berlin could not fund a Syria under Islamist structures, saying women's rights were the yardstick by which HTS would be judged.

Syria may face no choice but to accept Europe's blend of carrot and stick - a similar warning will be issued when European leaders meet with the US in Rome today - but it may be more resistant to taking lectures from the UN.