(Washington) The United States has denounced any normalization of relations with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, insisting that the recent restoration of ties with the Palestinian Hamas illustrated its diplomatic isolation.
Posted at 6:09 p.m.
President al-Assad, who is gradually renewing contact with Arab countries after 11 years of a war he largely won, welcomed a Hamas delegation to Damascus on Wednesday.
“The opening of Mr. Assad’s regime to this terrorist organization only reinforces the isolation” of the latter for us, declared Ned Price, spokesman for the American State Department.
“It goes against the interests of the Palestinians and undermines international efforts to fight terrorism, in the region and beyond,” he added to the press.
“We will continue to reject any support aimed at rehabilitating Mr. Assad’s regime,” he insisted.
Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, was a close ally of Mr Assad before the relationship deteriorated after the start of the war in Syria in 2011, with the Palestinian movement criticizing the crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
This return to privileged ties comes as Hamas is also getting closer, with the help of Iran, to Lebanese Hezbollah, another supporter of the Damascus regime.
Bashar al-Assad visited the United Arab Emirates in March, a first visit to an Arab country since the start of the war, a symbol of a normalization denounced by Washington.