Syria will help US fight Hezbollah, Barrack says
U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack hailed Thursday Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s historic visit to Washington, saying that Syria will play an active role in assisting the United States in fighting armed groups including Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Hamas and Hezbollah.
On Thursday, Barrack wrote on X that "Damascus will now actively assist us in confronting and dismantling the remnants of ISIS, the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), Hamas, Hizballah, and other terrorist networks".
Iran's powerful IRGC and Lebanon's Hezbollah were key backers of president Bashar al-Assad before he was ousted last December by a rebel coalition led by Sharaa.
Hamas does not have an armed presence in Syria.
Al-Sharaa met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and announced his country’s "desire, intentions and readiness" to join the 89 other countries making up the global coalition against the Islamic State group, which have committed to combat IS.
While the Islamic State group lost hold of all of the territory it once held in Syria and Iraq years ago, cells of the extremist group have continued to carry out attacks in both countries and abroad.
Al-Sharaa’s visit was the first to the White House by a Syrian head of state since the Middle Eastern country gained independence from France in 1946.
Source: Naharnet, Agence France Presse
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