Stalled deal sparks Damascus–SDF tensions
Shafaq News – Damascus
Conflicting accounts have emerged over the outcome of Ilham Ahmad’s recent visit to Damascus, fueling renewed tension between the Syrian government and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Ahmad, the Co-Chair of AANES’s External Relations Department, was scheduled to meet Syrian Foreign Minister Asad al-Shibani on Friday. However, the meeting never materialized.
According to Arab media reports citing two sources — one linked to the Syrian Foreign Ministry and another within the Autonomous Administration — Minister al-Shibani declined to meet with Ahmad due to the expected participation of American officials in the proposed talks.
The meeting had reportedly been arranged to discuss the implementation of the March 10 agreement signed between Syrian Transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi.
A senior Syrian government official, speaking anonymously to local media, pushed back against claims that Damascus had rejected the visit. “The meeting was never part of the official agenda,” the source stated, adding that the delegation arrived without prior coordination with the relevant authorities.
Syrian political analyst Bassam al-Suleiman, who is closely aligned with the government, confirmed al-Shibani’s refusal to attend. However, he underscored what he described as a breach of protocol.
In a Facebook post, al-Suleiman said Ahmad had "unexpectedly contacted officials overseeing the SDF negotiation file upon reaching the Syrian-Lebanese border," requesting immediate entry to Damascus to hold the meeting. In response, authorities dispatched an official delegation to receive her and escort her to Raqqa, without arranging any formal meetings in the capital.
Al-Suleiman questioned whether Ahmad’s actions reflected “a lack of understanding of official procedures,” or if they were a calculated attempt “to portray Damascus as obstructing the dialogue.”
President al-Sharaa had previously acknowledged progress in negotiations but admitted that implementation had slowed. In a televised interview last month, he noted that the government had set a year-end deadline to carry out the agreed-upon terms.
He reiterated Damascus’s intention to avoid military escalation in northeastern Syria and confirmed the government's willingness to integrate SDF forces into the national army — while allowing a measure of autonomy in Kurdish-majority areas.
Meanwhile, SDF Council member Abdul Wahab Khalil told Reuters that the Kurdish leadership supports integration with the Syrian state, but only under a "genuine partnership" that includes constitutional recognition of all components of Syrian society. “Military integration alone cannot achieve that without clear political guarantees,” he added.
