Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani confirmed on Wednesday that he is making a landmark official visit to the UK, during which he will meet top officials and hold a flag-raising ceremony outside his country's abandoned embassy.
Mr Al Shibani accompanied Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara this week for a meeting with US President Trump at the White House and is now leading a delegation to a second G7 nation.
“We are heading from the Syrian Arab Republic (sic) to the United Kingdom on the first official visit,” he said in a social media post.
“We carry the hopes and aspirations of the Syrians to build a homeland that safeguards the future of our children and coming generations.”
A source told The National that an official meeting will take place. “He didn't come to London to eat fish and chips,” they said.
British Syrians hope Mr Al Shibani's visit could speed up the opening of embassies and establish the next steps in the two countries' fragile diplomatic relations since they were re-established in July.
Though the UK has lifted sanctions on Syrian institutions, significant hurdles remain over aid and investment in the country.
The visit comes weeks after Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the now-dissolved Islamist armed group that was led by Mr Al Shara, was de-proscribed by the US and the UK.
The UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office declined to comment on the agenda for a meeting with Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Mr Al Shibani is expected to raise his country's flag outside the abandoned embassy building at a ceremony with the British Syrian community on Thursday.
The Syrian British Business Council will launch on the same day, with members of Mr Al Shibani's delegation expected to attend.
The council will aim to “strengthen commercial and professional ties between Britain and Syria”, working “closely” with the Foreign Office and Syrian authorities while functioning “independently from government”.
Abandoned post
Hopes are high that an exchange of ambassadors between the UK and Syria will be announced shortly after Mr Al Shibani's visit. British Syrians say they need an embassy in London to renew passports and certify other official documents.
“We are hopeful this visit will establish a new page in relations. We can’t see any reason why we can't have a diplomatic exchange. We've been deprived of that right [to an Embassy] for 14 years,” said Abdul Aziz Al Mashi, of the Syrian British Consortium.
“It is a historic day to meet our foreign minister here in the UK,” he said. “We are extremely grateful for the effort [by] Shibani and the government to bring back Syria on the global stage.”
But with the building's lease running out soon, there is concern over how the cash-strapped new administration could fund its rent and renovation.
“The very immediate – and daunting – challenge for a new Syrian ambassador is the sorry state of the Syrian embassy building on Belgrave Square,” said Ghaith Armanazi, a British-Syrian diplomat and former ambassador to the Arab League in London.
“Not only is it very dilapidated, but the lease is about to run out and to renew it would cost vast amounts of money which the Syrian government can ill afford,” he said.
British Syrians could be mobilised to fundraise for the lease and restore the building, Mr Armanazi said.
After sanctions
With sanctions and terror designations lifted, questions remain about how to facilitate the flow of aid and money into Syria to support reconstruction.
Former ambassador William Patey told The National that one form of support could come as export finance, to remove some of the risks in trading with Syria.
The UK could, further down the line, seek a returns agreement for Syrian refugees, as it has done with other countries, Mr Patey said.
British Syrians in the UK have attempted to encourage financial companies in London to invest in Syria. These attempts culminated in the launch of the Syrian Business Council.
“Investment from the City of London would constitute a true indication of Syria building bridges with the international financial and monetary landscape from which it was ostracised for decades,” said Mr Armanazi.
“It will take time and almost a cultural shift for that to smoothly happen, but the indications are that the resolve is there on both sides of the old chasm,” he said.
A Syrian ambassador to the UK would need to have a “highly public role”, Mr Armanazi said.
“The ambassador will need to be adept not only in diplomacy but also in a highly public role of ‘selling’ the new Syria to a still sceptical British media and socio-economic financial and political class,” he said.
The UK could provide expertise from its legal, financial and energy sectors, but also digital governance that would help Damascus modernise its administration, experts said.
“An urgent priority must be the dismantlement of old and stagnant bureaucratic impediments to the inward flow of investment inherited from decades of state hegemony on the economy,” Mr Armanazi said.
Malik Al Abdeh, founder of Syria in Transition, hopes Damascus can learn from the UK government’s digital platform, gov.uk, which has won awards for accessibility.
Foreign Office influence
The UK should work more closely with the Syrian diaspora living in the UK, Mr Al Abdeh said.
“There are a lot of highly educated smart Syrians in the UK who want to get involved in the politics and media in Syria,” he said. “It’s a huge asset that has already been tapped into, but nowhere near as the UK should.”
Some British Syrians, such as Razan Saffour, an adviser to Mr Al Shibani, and lawyer Ibrahim Al Olabi, who is now Syria’s representative at the UN, went back to work with the new government.
Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer and the UK’s special envoy to Syria Ann Snow have been meeting regularly with British Syrians to understand how they see the future of Syria.
The UK is said to have an influential presence in Damascus, but it is also viewed as lagging behind in its diplomatic efforts.
Ms Snow was the first western diplomat on the ground last year, and it was the first country to start lifting sanctions, in March this year.
Mr Falconer made his first trip to the capital in September, following David Lammy's visit, as foreign secretary, in June. Ms Snow also met government ministers in October.
But external organisations, such as the Tony Blair Institute and conflict mediation charity Inter/Mediate are seen as doing most of the legwork, some of it on behalf of the Foreign Office.
“They’re playing an outsized role,” said Mr Al Abdeh said. “It is not a good look.”
He added that the Foreign Office needs to “catch up and have a more formal UK presence in Damascus”.
There is also concern about the UK’s ability to influence Syria's transition towards a democracy that respects human rights. Mr Al Abdeh urged the UK to maintain a strong stance on this.
“British engagement with the Syrian government has to be principled,” he said. “They should be pushing the [Damascus] government to abide by minimum standards … to ending torture in detention, guaranteeing freedom of speech and protecting minority groups.”
