UN Security Council delegation in Syria on first-ever visit

DAMASCUS

A United Nations Security Council delegation arrived in Syria on Dec. 4, as part of the first-ever visit to the country just days before the anniversary of the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The delegation arrived via the Jdeidet Yabus border crossing between Lebanon and Syria and "is scheduled to meet a number of Syrian officials" and members of civil society, state news agency SANA reported.

Shortly after, the agency said the delegation was visiting Damascus' heavily damaged suburb of Jobar.

The diplomats also met with Syria's new authorities including President Ahmad al-Sharaa and are to visit neighboring Lebanon on Dec. 5 and 6.

While the United Nations works to reestablish itself in Syria, the Security Council recently lifted sanctions against interim leader Sharaa, a former jihadist whose forces led the offensive that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 last year.

The U.N. has urged an inclusive transition in the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional country after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Slovenian U.N. ambassador Samuel Zbogar told a press conference that "the visit to Syria and Lebanon is the first official visit of the Security Council to the Middle East in six years, the first visit to Syria ever.”

Slovenia currently holds the rotating presidency of the U.N.'s top body.

The trip comes "at a crucial time for the region" and for both countries, Zbogar said, noting the new authorities' efforts towards Syria's transition as well as a year-old ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and militant group Hezbollah "which we see daily that is being challenged.”

The visit is important in "expressing support and solidarity with both countries, and learning about the challenges, conveying the messages, also, on the path forward that the council would like to see in both countries", he added.