NEW US DIPLOMAT MAKES SYMBOLIC TRIP TO SYRIA

Thomas Barrack on mission to improve ties with Damascus. By Erika Solomon

- By Erika Solomon

The new US envoy to Syria made his first visit to the country on Thursday, a sign of warming relations as he called for the country’s new leadership to work toward a nonaggression pact with Israel.

The special envoy, Thomas Barrack, was appointed by President Donald Trump just last week, days after Mr Trump said that he would lift US sanctions on Syria.

Mr Trump's surprise announcement came before a meeting in Saudi Arabia with Syria's new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, whom he pledged to help establish a stable government after the toppling of Bashar Assad’s dictatorship last year.

Mr Barrack’s prompt trip to Damascus signalled an attempt to build further momentum towards improving relations between the United States and Syria's new government.

While in the Syrian capital, Mr Barrack raised the American flag over the US ambassador's residence for the first time in more than a decade. He later met Mr Sharaa and other Syrian officials, including the interior and defence ministers.

In remarks after those meetings, Mr Barrack echoed another recent refrain of Mr Trump — urging Syria to normalise relations with Israel, which have long been hostile and which the US envoy on Thursday called a “solvable problem”.