US gives nod to Syria to bring foreign jihadist ex-rebels into army
By Timour Azhari and Suleiman Al-Khalidi
Reuters - June 2, 2025
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DAMASCUS/AMMAN,
June 2 (Reuters) - The United States has given its blessing to a plan
by Syria's new leadership to incorporate thousands of foreign jihadist
former rebel fighters into the national army, provided that it does so
transparently, President Donald Trump's envoy said.
Three
Syrian defence officials said that under the plan, some 3,500 foreign
fighters, mainly Uyghurs from China and neighbouring countries, would
join a newly-formed unit, the 84th Syrian army division, which would
also include Syrians.
Asked
by Reuters in Damascus whether Washington approved the integration of
foreign fighters into Syria's new military, Thomas Barrack, the U.S.
ambassador to Turkey who was named Trump's special envoy to Syria last
month, said: "I would say there is an understanding, with transparency."
He
said it was better to keep the fighters, many of whom are "very loyal"
to Syria's new administration, within a state project than to exclude
them.
The fate of
foreigners who joined Syria's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels during the
13-year war between rebel groups and President Bashar al-Assad has been
one of the most fraught issues hindering a rapprochement with the West
since HTS, a one-time offshoot of al Qaeda, toppled Assad and took power
last year.
At least
until early May, the United States had been demanding the new leadership
broadly exclude foreign fighters from the security forces.
But
Washington's approach to Syria has changed sharply since Trump toured
the Middle East last month. Trump agreed to lift Assad-era sanctions on
Syria, met Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh and named
Barrack, a close friend, as his special envoy.
Two
sources close to the Syrian defence ministry told Reuters that Sharaa
and his circle had been arguing to Western interlocutors that bringing
foreign fighters into the army would be less of a security risk than
abandoning them, which could drive them into the orbit of al Qaeda or
Islamic State.
The U.S. State Department and a Syrian government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
CHINESE CONCERNS
Thousands
of Sunni Muslim foreigners joined Syria's rebels early in the 13-year
civil war to fight against Assad, who was himself aided by
Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias.
Some
fighters formed their own factions, while others joined established
groups such as Islamic State, which briefly declared a caliphate in
swathes of Syria and Iraq before being routed by an array of forces
backed both by the United States and Iran.
Foreign
fighters within HTS earned a reputation as loyal, disciplined and
experienced militants, and formed the backbone of the group's elite
so-called suicide units. They fought against Islamic State and against
other wings of al Qaeda from 2016, when HTS broke away from the group
founded by Osama bin Laden.
The
Uyghur fighters from China and Central Asia are members of the
Turkistan Islamic Party, a group designated as terrorists by Beijing. A
Syrian official and a foreign diplomat said China had sought to have the
group's influence in Syria restricted.
A
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said: "China hopes that Syria
will oppose all forms of terrorism and extremist forces in response to
the concerns of the international community."
Osman
Bughra, a TIP political official, told Reuters in a written statement
that the group had officially dissolved and integrated into the Syrian
army.
"At present, the
group operates entirely under the authority of the Ministry of Defence,
adheres to national policy, and maintains no affiliations with external
entities or groups," he said.
In December,
the appointment of a handful of foreign jihadists who were part of
HTS's senior leadership to top military posts had alarmed Western
governments, raising concerns over the direction of Syria's new Islamist
leadership.
Demands to
freeze the appointments and expel rank-and-file foreign fighters became a
key point of contention with Washington and other Western countries up
until the week of Trump's landmark meeting with Sharaa.
Sharaa has said that foreign fighters and their families may be granted Syrian citizenship due to their role in fighting Assad.
Abbas
Sharifa, a Damascus-based expert on jihadist groups, said the fighters
being included in the army had shown loyalty to Syria's leadership and
were "ideologically filtered."
But "if you abandon them they become prey to ISIS or other radical groups" he said.
Reporting by Timour Azhari in Damascus and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman Additional reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut and Liz Lee in Beijing Editing by Peter Graff