French fly flag in Damascus as West holds talks in Syria.

France has raised its flag at its Damascus embassy for the first time in 12 years and European Union officials prepared to engage with the new Syrian leadership, a sign of the growing contacts after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president on 8 December.

- TOM PERRY, ANGUS MCDOWALL

Western states are gradually opening channels to the new authorities in Damascus led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir alSham (HTS) and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, though they continue to designate the group as terrorists thanks to its past links to al-Qaeda.

As well as France and Britain, which sent a team to meet Mr Sharaa on Monday, Germany is also planning meetings with the new administration and the EU said yesterday it will also establish contacts.

Nine days after Mr Assad was ousted, the new prime minister installed by Mr Sharaa’s HTS group said the government was grappling with very low currency reserves and called for sanctions imposed on the ousted government to be lifted.

Mr Sharaa’s group was part of al-Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to a northwest corner of Syria for years until this month when Mr Assad’s troops melted away as it swept into Damascus.

France said the raising of its flag did not automatically mean it would reopen its embassy.

During his meeting with British officials, Mr Sharaa called for countries to restore ties and lift sanctions on Syria to help refugees return home, according to Syria’s state news agency Sana.