A report contends that Syria’s long-term stability depends on genuinely opening the political system — empowering parliament, clarifying the role of political parties and social groups, integrating Kurdish communities on equal footing with others, and reducing the dominance of former HTS figures in decision-making.
The signing ceremony drew notable international attention, including the presence of U.S. Envoy to Syria Tom Barak.
The Syrian government has made “nascent steps” toward justice and accountability for past crimes but its efforts remain “insufficient, selective, and lacking in transparency,” according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) World Report 2026.
Maliki nonetheless outlined a key condition for any normalization: firm assurances that Syrian territory will not be used as a “headquarters or passage for terrorists” seeking to destabilize Iraq.
Roughly 1,100 schools across Idlib city, its countryside, and parts of Aleppo have closed their doors, Ultra Syria writes.
