The UK’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell recently held a low-key meeting with the new Syrian administration, sources have disclosed, boosting suggestions he will play a leading role in relations.
Mr Powell, who served as chief of staff during Tony Blair’s tenure as prime minister, was appointed to the role of UK National Security Adviser by the Labour government in November, only weeks before the toppling of Bashar Al Assad.
Two sources confirmed a recent meeting between Mr Powell and the post-Assad regime, which built on his historic contacts in the country. His office would not comment.
Britain's relations with the Syrian administration are understood to be good, despite no ministerial visit. Unlike ministers from Germany and France, the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy has yet to visit Damascus since the toppling of dictator Mr Al Assad. France also hosted an international conference on Syria in December.
Instead, the UK is wielding considerable influence in post-Assad Syria, through a combination of political connections, charity operations and a well-networked returning diaspora, The National can reveal.
British Syrians in Damascus are now hoping for the lifting of sanctions to allow for rebuilding and investment after 14 years of civil war.
There has been disappointment from the British-Syrian community about the UK's "low profile" on the issue. But Britain’s long-standing support for the opposition in Syria, plus envoy Ann Snow’s recent engagement with the new administration, has placed UK relations on par with Germany and France, a former diplomat for the traditional Syrian opposition told The National.
"The UK supported change since 2011 and they supported the opposition in many ways. The relationship and contact is there, and there is mutual understanding,” said Walid Saffour, who was exiled to the UK more than 40 years ago and represented the Syrian National Coalition in the UK in 2012, but is not involved in the new Syrian administration.
Meanwhile, a new generation of British Syrians are advising the new administration, although this is not connected to any UK government initiative. Syrians from civil society, political and legal support groups established by diaspora communities in the past 14 years are helping to shape the course of policy.
Their expertise covers law, governance and preservation of civil freedom. The sharp increase in the number of well-attended conferences and workshops taking place in Syria since December indicates that those inside the country are hungry for political participation, paths to justice for victims of past crimes, and knowledge about how their country can be reshaped after more than five decades of one-family rule.
Diaspora links
Some Syrians who have returned are directly participating in the government. Among them is Razan Saffour, Mr Saffour’s daughter, who became a prominent voice of the opposition during the civil war. She travelled with Syria’s interim leader Ahmad Al Shara during his first official state visit to Saudi Arabia and sat in on the meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. She also accompanied Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani to the Munich Security Conference last week.
Ms Saffour was born and raised in London, where she studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies. She travelled to Damascus for the first time in January with her father, and his partially destroyed childhood home in Homs was one of their first stops.
Oxford-educated barrister Ibrahim Al Olabi was appointed as an adviser for human rights to the new administration. Mr Al Olabi practises at law firm Guernica 37 and is the founder of the UK-based NGO Syrian Legal Development Programme.
He is widely regarded as being concerned with achieving justice for Syrians, having worked for years advising European governments and police forces on crimes related to Syria. He was part of the legal team advising the Netherlands on actions to bring the former Syrian regime to account for crimes involving torture.
Powell role
Mr Powell's knowledge of Syria pre-dates the civil war. His brother, Lord Charles Powell, is a trustee of the Said Foundation, set up by British-Syrian businessman and philanthropist Wafic Said. Mr Said met Mr Al Shara in mid-January at the presidential palace in Damascus.
This personal connection and the work done by the Said Foundation has given Mr Powell a long-standing and extensive knowledge of the country and the issues it faces, according to those who know him. As well as the recent meeting is also thought he had established back-channel contact with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham before it took power via Inter Mediate, the negotiation and diplomacy charity he co-founded with Martin Griffiths, the founder and former director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva.
In 2021 it was claimed that Mr Powell had even met Mr Al Shara, although that was denied by the Syrian group.
Mr Powell – who was the chief negotiator in Northern Ireland peace talks that led to the Good Friday Agreement – is an advocate of engagement with terrorist groups and has said that the lessons from the Troubles can be applied to other conflicts.
Britain’s Foreign Office has for several years used paid contractors to help displaced Syrians return home, address community tension between Arabs and Kurds and report back to London on the situation in north-east Syria. Aims of UK-funded projects also included challenging Russian narratives and “amplifying truth and the views of moderate Syrians”, according to government documents.
Taking the appropriate tone with the new regime will be key, according to former British Army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, who has written extensively on Syria and has been in the country this month. He acknowledged the new government in Damascus “does not need us to tell them what to do”, but instead requires “advice and resources” to ensure they can achieve their plans.
Writing in The National, Mr de Bretton-Gordon said: “It was ostensibly the British Syrian diaspora from the Syrian British Medical Society (SBMS) and Union of Syrian Medical Charities who kept the medical facilities in Idlib running, giving the residents some hope and the will to carry on.”
Syria's economy - in pictures
He visited the new Health Ministry and said it would like to replicate what SBMS did across the whole of Syria. “Also, in the same vein they have asked the White Helmets, the civil emergency teams … to run the emergency services now country-wide,” he said.
“The revolution which toppled the old guard in Damascus grew out of north-west Syria, and the interim President … appears to be a viable leader. The Syrians I know, some very close to the new team, tell me they are the real deal.
“Britain is uniquely placed through the British-Syrian diaspora to make a real difference, and opening the British Embassy in Damascus cannot happen soon enough.”
British Syrians hope developments will lead swiftly to a lifting of sanctions. Ghaith Armanazi, a British-Syrian diplomat and former ambassador to the Arab League in London, said members of the community had met City firms keen on investing in Syria.
“An idea is being developed at the moment with members of the Syrian community promoting the idea of an international conference that would look into bringing investment into Syria,” Mr Armanazi told The National. "All areas of Syria need help: education, finance, energy and tourism. These areas are ripe for development and recovery from all these years of conflict."
He also suggested that the UK could open offshoots of its schools and universities in Syria. “One of the messages the new administration is projecting is how open they are and different from the socialist model of the [Assad regime],” Mr Armanazi said.
The UK will debate easing restrictions applying to energy, transport and finance sectors, Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty said last week.
But more radical measures were needed, said Mr Saffour. “In the long term we have to lift sanctions altogether otherwise the situation in Syria will stay as it is. Refugees will not be able to go back. It is a country without services,” he said.
The diaspora’s input may also ensure that the desires and demands of a broad range of Syrian views are represented in building new institutions, policy planning, and the writing of a new constitution, potentially tempering the positions of more hardline, conservative officials who have joined Ahmad Al Shara’s new administration in Damascus from HTS's former Syrian Salvation Government in Idlib.
At the end of last month, 48 Syrian civil society organisations that had worked in opposition-held areas of the country and abroad held a meeting attended by Judge Khitam Haddad, caretaker Deputy Minister of Justice for Legal Affairs and Studies, at Damascus’s Cham Palace hotel. The meeting proposed specific and urgent recommendations to the new authorities on initiating legal accountability and transitional justice processes, which, the groups said, were “essential to prevent the country descending into civil conflict".
RESULTS
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
More on Quran memorisation:
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
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Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
SPEC%20SHEET
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
'My Son'
Director: Christian Carion
Starring: James McAvoy, Claire Foy, Tom Cullen, Gary Lewis
Rating: 2/5
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
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Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Crime%20Wave
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now