meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Syria makes progress towards reunification

24 April 2025

 

Following the ousting of Bashar Al-Assad in late 2024, President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has rapidly consolidated power in Syria. He has transitioned from a militant and political outsider into a credible leader increasingly recognised in the region and on the world stage.

Within Syria, Al-Sharaa faces political, economic, military and civil challenges in pulling the country back together again. In recent weeks, a prominent focus has been the reunification of Syria’s fractured security landscape through the negotiated dissolution and integration of smaller rebel factions into a centralised military structure under the Ministry of Defence.

Rebel disbandment

Most recently, the new government brokered the dissolution of the Eighth Brigade, a 3,000-strong rebel group based in the southern city of Daraa that had waged an insurgency against the government of Bashar Al-Assad since 2018.

That outcome proved a relief to the government after its trustworthiness in talks was thrown into doubt by the chaos that erupted in Syria’s coastal region on 6 March as Islamist groups committed massacres against Alawite civilians in revenge over attacks by Assad loyalists.

On 9 March, Al-Sharaa appointed a committee to report on the violence, determine its perpetrators and theoretically hold them to account. That move caused some murmurings within his own ranks, but externally it showed the president’s commitment, in principle, to justice.

It also appeared to serve the political imperatives of the moment. Just a day later, on 10 March, the reassured Kurdish- led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – representing tens of thousands of trained soldiers – signed a deal to integrate its forces into the national army.

The deal marked perhaps the most significant step towards national reunification so far, promising to restore to government control a swathe of northeastern Syria and its oil fields that has been largely lost to Damascus since the 2014 invasion by the Islamic State.

The integration of the SDF into the national military also appears to have been accepted by the US, which had been supporting the SDF military as an independent force in the northeast of the country, but has now announced the planned staggered withdrawal of its stationed troops.

Al-Sharaa has been making his rounds of the region in a diplomatic blitz aimed at shoring up regional support for his new government

Broader priorities

Alongside reconsolidating and restructuring the country’s military and security apparatus, Al-Sharaa’s main priorities are foreign affairs and economic policy. These two areas go hand in hand, given that removing international sanctions is key to reviving Syria’s economy.

In late March, Al-Sharaa entrenched his authority by enacting a new constitutional declaration, announcing a new transitional government and granting himself sweeping executive powers, including the right to appoint a third of the legislature and select judges for the constitutional court.

The cabinet was also broadened and reshuffled to address concerns over the lack of representation from minority communities. Individuals from the Alawite, Druze and Christian communities, as well as one woman, were appointed to ministerial positions.

The move further witnessed the replacement of the formerly appointed justice minister Shadi Al-Waisi, whose elevation embarrassed the government after 2015 videos surfaced of him presiding over street executions by morality police as part of the then Nusra Front. His removal was another reassuring step for observers that the government is attuned and reactive to constructive criticism.

With the right signals sent, Al-Sharaa has been making his rounds of the region in a diplomatic blitz aimed at shoring up regional support for his new government. He is likely also aiming to put the right words in the right ears, in the hope that they filter through the Gulf’s power lobbying system to the US.

Already on 30 January, just a day after Al-Sharaa became president, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani flew to greet the man who displaced Al-Assad – a goal also long pursued by Doha. On 2 February, Al-Sharaa then took his first trip abroad to meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Some other regional governments have been more reticent to launch into renewed relations, but have increasingly come on board.

This includes Iraq, which, hesitant over Al-Sharaa’s past militant activity against Baghdad, only arranged a meeting between the Syrian president and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on 17 April in Doha – ultimately driven by shared security imperatives. Al-Sudani also invited Al-Sharaa to attend the upcoming Arab summit in Baghdad in May.

On 14 April, the equally green Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also met with Al-Sharaa in Damascus – no doubt keen to address the recent border clashes between the two countries. A day earlier, Al-Sharaa was in Abu Dhabi to meet Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, rounding out his visits to the key power brokers and budget holders in the Gulf.

Between all of these meetings, Al-Sharaa appears to have ingratiated himself with the region’s other leaders with remarkable rapidity and ease. A year after the Arab League reaccepted him in May 2023, Al-Assad had made little comparable progress.

For world leaders weary from years of dithering by Al-Assad’s government, which was unable or unwilling to even acquiesce to the Gulf’s most basic request – to stem the flow of the drug captagon from within Syria’s borders – Al-Sharaa is at least a partner who can do that and achieve far more besides. 

For years, it has been the case that a reunified Syria and a rebuilt Syrian economy would lift the entire Levant region and any Gulf investors with it. The appetite in the region to see it succeed has been there. All that has been missing is a suitable partner in Damascus to move forward with.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13747658/main.gif
John Bambridge

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Abu Dhabi announces $15bn infrastructure PPP projects

    12 May 2026

    The Abu Dhabi Investment Office and the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre have launched a AED55bn ($15bn) public-private partnership (PPP) pipeline of 24 projects to be tendered in 2026 and 2027.

    The projects will be tendered across the transport, infrastructure and social sectors.

    According to a statement published by the Abu Dhabi Media Office, the transport sector accounts for 11 road projects, with AED35bn ($9.5bn) of construction capex, covering more than 300 kilometres of new and upgraded roads, tunnels, intersections and related network works.

    The infrastructure pipeline includes five projects budgeted at AED11bn ($3bn), covering dams, water storage, flood control, stormwater upgrades and urban landscaping.

    Social infrastructure includes eight projects budgeted at AED9bn ($2.5bn), covering sports facilities, specialist healthcare assets, schools and university campuses.

    The statement added that the pipeline forms part of Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure delivery plan and will be executed through PPP structures.

    It is also intended to support company establishment in the emirate, local content objectives, and supply-chain and industrial capacity.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16793904/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Saudi Arabia tenders GCC rail link from Kuwait to UAE border

    12 May 2026

     

    Saudi Arabia has begun the procurement process to deliver its portion of the GCC railway, which will connect all six member states.

    Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) issued a tender for design consultancy services for the project on 7 May.

    The kingdom’s section of the railway will start at Al-Khafji in the Eastern Province, near the border with Kuwait, and end at Al-Batha, at Saudi Arabia’s border with the UAE. The route length in Saudi Arabia will be about 672 kilometres (km).

    The railway will interface with the Kuwait National Rail Road (KNRR) project on the Kuwaiti side. Last year, MEED exclusively reported that the KNRR design contract was awarded to Türkiye’s Proyapi Muhendislik ve Musavirlik Anonim Sirketi.

    The KNRR forms part of the wider GCC rail network. GCC railway projects have been progressing with renewed impetus since the six member states signed the Al-Ula Declaration in January 2021.

    In October last year, the Qatari cabinet approved a draft agreement paving the way for a railway link between Qatar and Saudi Arabia as part of the GCC railway network.

    GCC railway line

    Under the overall plan, the railway will span 2,186 kilometres, beginning in Kuwait, passing through Dammam in Saudi Arabia, reaching Bahrain via a planned causeway, and continuing from Dammam to Qatar, the UAE and, ultimately, Muscat via Sohar in Oman.

    The network’s route length within each member state is as follows: 684km in the UAE, 672km in Saudi Arabia, 306km in Oman, 283km in Qatar, 145km in Kuwait and 36km in Bahrain.

    The railway is designed for passenger trains travelling at 220 kilometres an hour (km/h) and freight trains operating at 80-120km/h.

    With high levels of project activity, governments in spending mode and renewed cooperation under the Al-Ula Declaration, the latest efforts to restart the GCC railway project may make more progress than previous attempts. If completed, the railway could prove transformational for a region that is globally connected but divided between its constituent parts.

    > Be recognised among the best in the industry at the MEED Projects Awards 2026 …

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16793841/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Kuwait tenders upstream oil project

    12 May 2026

    State-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has tendered a contract to develop power infrastructure to provide electricity to the country’s Bahra oil field.

    The project focuses on constructing an 11kV, 72MW main intake in the Bahra-A area.

    It also includes the development of 11kV, 20MW substations in the Bahra-A2 area, and the conversion of a substation in the Bahra-A1 area in northern Kuwait.

    An initial meeting for the project is scheduled for 7 June, and bids are due by 9 August.

    Kuwait’s oil and gas sector has been severely impacted by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which all of its crude exports are normally shipped.

    The country recorded zero crude oil exports in April for the first time since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, according to shipping monitor TankerTrackers.com.

    READ THE MAY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Global energy sector forced to recalibrate; Conflict hits debt issuance and listings activity; UAE’s non-oil sector faces unclear recovery period amid disruption.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the May 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16792080/main.png
    Wil Crisp
  • Chinese company signs deal to develop Syria cement plant

    12 May 2026

    China’s Jiangsu Pengfei Group has signed a deal with Damascus-based Al-Hasan Holding Group (HHG) to develop a cement plant in Syria’s Raqa governorate.

    The “strategic agreement” was signed on 29 April, according to a statement from HHG.

    The clinker production line will have a capacity of 5,000 tonnes a day (t/d).

    Syria is seeking to expand cement production capacity to meet demand from the domestic construction sector.

    HHG is an integrated investment conglomerate headquartered in Damascus with a portfolio of companies across sectors including industry, trade, energy, construction, tourism and services.

    It was founded by the Syrian businessman Hassan Kamel Al-Hasan.

    Jiangsu Pengfei Group is a manufacturer of rotary kiln and grinding equipment.

    The company is involved in the design, manufacture and service of equipment in the fields of building materials, metallurgy and the chemical industry.

    It is also an engineering, procurement and construction service provider that has completed more than 100 cement production line projects.

    READ THE MAY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Global energy sector forced to recalibrate; Conflict hits debt issuance and listings activity; UAE’s non-oil sector faces unclear recovery period amid disruption.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the May 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16792079/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Libya’s national oil company takes control of key refinery

    12 May 2026

    Libya’s state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) has signed an agreement to take full control of the country’s Ras Lanuf refinery.

    The agreement marks the end of a decade-long dispute with UAE-based Trasta Energy.

    NOC has signed a final agreement with Trasta to end their partnership in the Libyan Emirates Oil Refining Company (Lerco), giving the NOC full ownership of the Ras Lanuf refinery and petrochemical complex, according to a statement.

    In its statement, NOC said the deal was one of the most important developments in Libya’s oil sector since the 2011 uprising and closed one of the industry’s most complex disputes.

    NOC also said that the deal has paved the way for a new phase of rehabilitation, operation and development.

    Some analysts have linked tensions in the partnership to political divisions in Libya and the UAE’s support for eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar.

    Lerco was established as a joint venture to operate and develop the Ras Lanuf complex, but operations were disrupted after Libya’s civil war, which started in 2011 and overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.

    The Ras Lanuf complex is located about 600 kilometres east of Tripoli on Libya’s northeastern coast and has the capacity to refine about 220,000 barrels of oil a day (b/d), which would make it the country’s largest if it comes online.

    It includes a refinery, storage facilities, export terminals and petrochemical units.

    Under the agreement, all of Trasta’s shares will be transferred to the NOC, allowing the complex to operate under full Libyan management.

    Political instability and security problems have led to repeated problems in Libya’s downstream sector over the past decade.

    On 10 May, it was announced that the Zawiya refinery, which is the country’s largest functioning oil refinery, and the nearby oil port were resuming operations after military clashes forced the refinery to shut down for two days.

    Azzawiya Oil Refining Company, which operates the facility, said it had decided to lift the state of emergency, allowing work to resume at the site.

    READ THE MAY 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Global energy sector forced to recalibrate; Conflict hits debt issuance and listings activity; UAE’s non-oil sector faces unclear recovery period amid disruption.

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the May 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/16792076/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp