Rubio warns that Syria may be weeks of “full -scale civil war”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on the transitional authorities in Syria to be supported, warning that the country could only be weeks from a “potential collapse and a full -scale epic -sized civil war”.

At the hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he defended President Donald Trump’s decision last week to remove sanctions against Syria before meeting with President Ahmed al-Shara, a former al-Qaeda commander who led the rebels offensive that he was taking Bashar al-Assad.

Trump’s justification was that other countries wanted to help the Sharaa administration and send help, but were afraid of sanctions, Rubio explained.

There was no immediate comment from Syrian officials.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Syria in response to atrocities committed by forces loyal to Assad during a devastating 13-year civil war in a country in which over 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced by their homes.

Previously, the State Department insisted on several conditions before being canceled, including the protection of religious and ethnic minorities.

Although Sharaa promised to do this, the country was shaken by two waves of deadly sectarian violence in recent months.

In March, nearly 900 civilians, mainly members of the Assad Alavit sect, were killed by pro -government forces in the western coastal region during the fight between security forces and former loyal regimes, according to one observed group. Loyalists have been reported to have killed almost 450 civilians and 170 security staff.

And in early May, more than 100 people were killed in clashes between the artillery of Druza’s religious minority, the new security forces and the Allied Sunni Islamist fighters in two suburbs of the capital Damascus and the southern Sveta province.

Even before the violence, many members of the minority communities were worried about the new transitional authorities dominated by the Sunni Islamist group of Sharaa, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS). This is a former al -Qaeda branch, still defined as a UN terrorist organization, USA, EU and Britain.

Sharaa himself continues to be named the United States as a “specially marked global terrorist”, although the Biden administration announced in December that the United States will scrap the generosity of $ 10 million (7.5 million pounds) offered for his arrest.

Despite Sharaa’s past, Trump took advantage of the opportunity to meet him while attending a meeting at the top of Persian Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia last week.

The US President then told reporters that he was “a young, attractive man”, adding, “A difficult man. A very strong past. A very strong. A fighter.”

“He has a real shot to pull him (Syria) together,” he said, adding, “It’s a torn side.”

Meanwhile, Sharaa said Trump’s decision to eliminate sanctions on Syria “is a historic and bold decision that relieves people’s suffering, contributes to their rebirth and laid the foundations of stability in the region.”

Speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Tuesday, Rubio declined that “the bad news is that the figures of the transitional authority … did not pass their check with the FBI.”

“But on the reverse of it, if we engage them, it can not be obtained. If we do not engage them, it was guaranteed that it didn’t work,” he added.

“In fact, our assessment is that, frankly, the transitional authority, given the challenges they face, maybe weeks, not many months, far from a potential collapse and a full -scale epic -sized civil war, the country is mainly divided.”

He did not develop, but said that minorities in Syria “are dealing with deep inner distrust … because Assad deliberately longs these groups against each other.”

He said Trump had decided to quickly raise sanctions because “Nations in the region want to receive help, they want to start helping them. And they can’t, because they are afraid of our sanctions.”

While Rubio speaks, European Union’s foreign ministers have agreed to raise economic sanctions against Syria.

“We want to help the Syrian people restore a new, inclusive and calm Syria,” writes the head of the foreign policy of the Kaja Callas block of X.

“The EU has always stood by Syrians for the past 14 years – and will continue to do so.”

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the decision marks “the beginning of a new chapter in Syrian-European relations, built on shared prosperity and mutual respect.”