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00:00Hello, everyone. I'm François Picard. He called him tough. He called him handsome.
00:17Donald Trump heaping praise on Ahmed al-Shara after the pair met for a historic handshake
00:25on the sidelines of a Gulf summit in Saudi Arabia. This before Trump went on to Qatar.
00:37Ahmed al-Shara, who a few years ago was being guarded by U.S. soldiers in an Iraqi prison
00:45when he was an Islamist militant. Emerald Maxwell has more.
00:49After departing Saudi Arabia and bidding farewell to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
00:58Donald Trump took a moment aboard Air Force One to reflect on his encounter with new Syrian
01:03President Ahmed al-Shara.
01:05I think very good. Young, attractive guy. Tough guy.
01:10It was the first meeting between a U.S. and Syrian leader in 25 years and came despite concerns
01:16within sectors of Trump's administration over al-Shara's former ties to al-Qaeda.
01:22It was also attended by Prince Mohammed and the Turkish President via videoconference.
01:27We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria's new government, as you know.
01:32After discussing the situation with Crown Prince Mohammed and President Erdogan of Turkey,
01:40I am also ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start.
01:46The Syrian foreign minister said that the 33-minute long meeting included discussions about combating
01:52terrorism and cooperation in eliminating the influence of armed groups that threaten Syrian stability.
01:59Trump also asked the Syrian government to assume responsibility for over a dozen detention
02:04centers, holding some 9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State Group, currently run by
02:09the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces.
02:12The U.S. President also said he urged al-Shara to join the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords,
02:18which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
02:23I told him, I hope you're going to join when it's 390 seniors, but they have a lot of fortune.
02:30Israel is a longtime foe of Syria's and continues to describe al-Shara as a jihadist,
02:35though he severed ties with al-Qaeda in 2016.
02:39Israel has also seized ground in the southwest of the country since Bashar al-Assad fell, warned
02:44the Syrian government against deploying forces there and blown up much of the Syrian military's
02:49heavy weapons. Nonetheless, Syrian-U.S. normalization efforts are set to continue,
02:55with a meeting between Syria's foreign minister and his U.S. counterpart, Marco Rubio.
03:00And for more, we're joined by Kedavan Gorjastani from our international affairs desk.
03:06Yeah, that historic handshake taking place. The announcement that the sanctions will be lifted
03:14and Trump claiming that Ahmed al-Shara had said yes to normalizing ties with Israel.
03:21Yeah, a lot of information in that small 30-minute meeting, a meeting that was actually longer than
03:29what was expected when the White House presented it as simply a sort of hello between the two leaders.
03:35So they did have a little bit of time to discuss. And obviously, the big news is that lifting of
03:43sanctions. And as we saw in that report, this is going to take some time to be set into motion,
03:51because, of course, Donald Trump, as Donald Trump does, announced lifting all sanctions immediately.
03:56But things don't go that fast. And you are going to have Marco Rubio, who's going to be in Turkey,
04:03meeting with his Syrian and his Turkish counterpart to sort of start working out how this will actually work.
04:11Because there are sanctions that go through the executive. So through, for example, Treasury,
04:17through the State Department. But there's also a part of the sanctions that are congressional sanctions.
04:22So the U.S. Congress is going to have to get involved as well. So this is going to take some time.
04:29And the question also is going to be to see whether or not this will all actually happen at the same
04:36time or whether the United States, once you pass the visit and the big announcements, if they're going
04:43to go a little bit more of the route of the Europeans, which is sort of incremental, step-by-step
04:49lifting of sanctions. So that's probably some of the things that are going to be worked out
04:54by Marco Rubio and his counterpart. When it comes to the question of the Abraham Accords,
05:02we heard Donald Trump, when he was on Air Force One, sort of not walk back, but pretty much take
05:09into context the fact that Syria has many, many things to do before they can get to the point where
05:15they can decide whether or not they want to normalize relations with Israel. And there has
05:21not been a confirmation from the Syrians of what Donald Trump said, which is that Ahmed Al-Shara said
05:27yes to normalizing relations once the country is rebuilt.
05:32Now, we heard about the part about building a Trump Tower in Damascus. You mentioned the fact
05:37that the next step is going to be Thursday in Istanbul, where the U.S. Secretary of State will go.
05:44For more on that, we're joined by Agiad Khanem, a researcher at the French Political Science
05:49Institute, Sciences Po. And before I ask you about the reactions to all of this inside of Syria,
05:55are we witnessing, from what Kerevan just said, this sort of change in Syria, where before Iran was
06:02the big player from outside, and now it might be Turkey?
06:06That's right. There is a change in that, in terms of who is the big player. Turkey is one, Saudi Arabia is one as well, and Saudi Arabia has shown its diplomatic power in the last few weeks,
06:22be it this week when Ahmed Al-Shara met with Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia, but also in terms of the mediation that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,
06:34he looks to have been successful in mediating between Al-Shara and Macron, Al-Shara and the U.S. president now.
06:42So yes, we can see this shift in terms of diplomatic power from Iran to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in terms of influence over the Syrian government.
06:52And of course, with regards to sanction, it's before carrying any political meaning, it's a relief for the people.
07:00And I've been seeing a lot of very positive reactions on the field.
07:04We'll talk about that in a moment. But, you know, again, how time changes.
07:11Ahmed Al-Shara at one point was held in an Iraqi prison as an Islamist militant by U.S. soldiers.
07:18And when you hear Donald Trump saying that he's handsome, he's strong, what's your reaction?
07:25I mean, President Trump says a lot of contradictory things sometimes.
07:31So we shall see if this stays the position of Donald Trump towards the Syrian president.
07:38But what I can see, again, is a lot of efforts that were done by the current Syrian government to lift the sanctions.
07:46This was the most important priority for this government.
07:51And most of their efforts in the last months were directed towards this goal.
07:57Again, I think the mediation of Saudi Arabia is a key here.
08:02And I wonder what exactly is expected from Syrian president now in exchange of such normalization or at least progressive lift of sanctions.
08:12Is it the normalization with Israel? Is it a critical raw materials agreement?
08:18This we shall see. But yes, we see here the realism of Trump and the U.S. and of course the Syrian president.
08:25The realism?
08:26Yeah. Yeah, I think it's about, it's a clearly realist policy.
08:31And I can see that the Syrian government and Ahmed Al-Shara has shown a lot of pledges in terms of economic opening,
08:40in terms of availability to open a free market economy.
08:44The U.S. already controls the oil in those Kurdish-held areas.
08:47That's right. And I'm sure that a lot of discussions will be held in the next couple of weeks and months
08:53about business partnerships and investments.
08:57But what I'm wondering about is about the political and the political pledges,
09:03because Ahmed Al-Shara showed he's very open in terms of economy,
09:08but in terms of democracy, transparency, we still lack the conditions and pledges.
09:13And it's going to be a tightrope for him, how he handles his coalition, which includes a lot of hardliners.
09:20As Kedavan was saying, how fast those sanctions are rolled back.
09:25For now, as Aguilar was just saying, there were cheers in Damascus overnight.
09:30Kemi Knight has more.
09:31The streets of Damascus echo with the sound of horns and applause.
09:39On Tuesday evening, hundreds of Syrians gathered in Umayyad Square to celebrate
09:43after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a surprise end to sanctions on the country,
09:48many hoping the move will help turn around the country's economy after more than a decade of war.
09:53It's an incredible joy for all Syrians.
09:57It will be great for our country.
09:59Construction will resume, refugees will return, everyone will come back and prices will drop.
10:07The lifting of sanctions is a signal to the world that it can now do business in Syria,
10:11where foreign investment is desperately needed to kick off a reconstruction process
10:16that analysts estimate could cost up to $400 billion.
10:19Syria has been designated a state's sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. government since 1976.
10:26U.S. sanctions were imposed in 2004 and ramped up in 2011
10:29after the Assad regime launched a brutal crackdown on anti-government uprisings.
10:35The sanctions targeted individuals with travel bans and asset freezes,
10:38as well as the Syrian government, preventing it from accessing global financial channels,
10:43curbing Syrian imports from Western countries,
10:46and placing an embargo on Syrian oil exports.
10:50In 2020, the Caesar Act imposed secondary sanctions,
10:53targeting third countries that might invest in Syria.
10:56The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important,
11:02really an important function, nevertheless, at the time.
11:05But now it's their time to shine.
11:07It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off.
11:09The EU, meanwhile, has also temporarily lifted restrictions
11:12in areas of energy, transport and banking.
11:15With a June deadline for reviewing them fast approaching,
11:18the French president has called on the bloc to stand by its decision.
11:21When can we expect the streets to be paved with gold in Damascus?
11:32I mean, we have seen the images, the celebrations of the discussion,
11:39of this decision, of this public statement for now.
11:42And of course, we shall see the conditions and the timing.
11:46But this is something I saw, of course, on my personal social media
11:49and the reaction from the people I know on the ground.
11:52I mean, you just have to imagine a population who have lived this 15-year-old war
11:58and who has been living also under the weight of the sanctions,
12:02living sometimes with two hours of electricity a day,
12:05with shortages and everything that is important for a living.
12:10So, of course, this is a relief for the people,
12:14one that has been expected a very long time.
12:17And let's go over the timeline for a second here
12:20because Assad is overthrown in December.
12:22Since then, you've had this pledge
12:26that the new constitution, when it comes about, will be inclusive.
12:30But you've had tensions.
12:32You've had, in one instance, fighting with the Alawite minority,
12:37more recently with the Druze minority.
12:41Donald Trump's move, does it help to reduce those tensions involving minorities?
12:46I think this is something we may see in the longer term.
12:52My intuition is that the sanctions and the isolation of Syria
12:57from the international scene was very destabilizing, actually.
13:02It was creating tensions and maybe putting Ahmed El-Shara and his government
13:07in a position where he had to satisfy his most radical allies
13:13and the most radical parts of his coalition.
13:16So, hopefully, now that the country will open again
13:19and again we shall see the conditions of that,
13:22hopefully a more moderate stance will be privileged.
13:25But, of course, again...
13:26Will there be a reckoning with those hardliners within his own camp,
13:30Sunni hardliners?
13:31That's really something we are in need of.
13:34We are in need for this transitional justice moment.
13:38We are in need for this refoundation of the army
13:41in a more inclusive and secure basis.
13:44We are in need for dealing with the existence of foreign fighters in Syria,
13:48the existence of ISIS in Syria.
13:51This is really now what we are expecting.
13:54I think it's important that the sanctions were lifted
13:57because now it's also the opportunity for the Syrian civil society
14:01to really be part of the game
14:04and even Syrians being outside of Syria
14:07and to really try and take part in this moment
14:10politically, socially, economically.
14:14I get Ghanem mentioning the important role played by Saudi Arabia in all of this.
14:18Donald Trump has now left Saudi Arabia, Kerevan Ghorjastani.
14:22He's in Doha, in Qatar.
14:25What's the role of Qatar?
14:26Qatar friendly with, or at least has relations now,
14:30with both the Saudis and the Iranians.
14:33Yes, and very much involved, of course,
14:36in what is happening in Gaza as a mediator in the talks with Hamas.
14:41They were the ones that the U.S. dealt with
14:43to get the release of Iran Alexander just recently.
14:48So they're also playing a bigger geopolitical role,
14:53just as the Saudis have been playing a bigger geopolitical role.
14:57But just like in Saudi Arabia,
14:59it was also a whole lot about doing business deals
15:03for the dealmaker-in-chief, as he likes to call himself.
15:07And Donald Trump came away with a few billion dollars in deals.
15:12The biggest one, of course,
15:14is the deal between Boeing and Qatar Airways.
15:19Qatar Airways now confirming the numbers that Donald Trump gave
15:23were not exactly right.
15:24So according to the fact sheet that was put out by the White House,
15:29Boeing, Qatar Airways will be buying 210 Boeing,
15:34787 Dreamliners and 777s.
15:37Much needed for Boeing at this time.
15:39Exactly.
15:40Very good deal for Boeing.
15:42That's about $96 billion.
15:45And there's a whole big chunk that is a defense agreement
15:48between the U.S. and Qatar,
15:50with Qatar pledging to buy around $2 billion in those drones,
15:57very high-end drone systems,
16:00and almost a billion dollars in counter-drone capabilities.
16:04So again, as we saw in Saudi Arabia,
16:06there are business deals between Qatari and U.S. companies,
16:11but also deals when it comes to defense cooperation,
16:14economic cooperation.
16:15The whole economic deal package is around $243 billion.
16:21But the first line of the White House fact sheet that was put out
16:26said that these agreements will generate economic exchanges
16:31worth at least $1.2 trillion.
16:35Whether all of that actually comes to be is going to take months,
16:39months, even years,
16:41but this was sort of the crux of that meeting in Qatar.
16:47And of course,
16:47there's the sort of pomp and circumstance
16:49that will happen a little bit later on tonight.
16:52And then Donald Trump will head on to the United Arab Emirates,
16:57where we are expecting to see a little bit more of the same
17:00business deals and also a little bit of geopolitics.
17:03Peace through deal-making?
17:05Do you believe in that, Ariad Khanem?
17:07I mean, again, it's part of the story.
17:13It's important to open the country when it comes to Syria economically.
17:19But again, it won't be only about deals.
17:22Now, we also need more information about the policy
17:26that will be the government's,
17:27the economic policy of the government,
17:29which hasn't been that transparent until now.
17:32We have seen first business deals,
17:34for example, with CMSHCGM for the Latakia ports in Syria.
17:40But again, we are wondering...
17:41French company.
17:41Yeah, the French company.
17:42We are wondering who's taking such decisions
17:46according to what indicators,
17:48what project, what economic plan and strategy.
17:51So that's, I think, the most important thing.
17:53It starts now, actually.
17:54We shall see the...
17:55Donald Trump signing the cessation of sanctions
18:00over the objections of Israel.
18:04Your thoughts on that?
18:05Because we've seen in the last week,
18:08still, Israel really urging him not to sign.
18:12This after hitting Syria several times with airstrikes
18:17in the name of defending the Druze minority.
18:19I think this is really an illustration of this tension
18:24that exists both internally and regionally
18:27when it comes to Syria
18:28about in terms of centralizing dynamics.
18:32First, Ahmad Al-Shara wants to be a very powerful president
18:36as the head of centralized states,
18:39supported by Turkey, Saudi Arabia,
18:41and now maybe Trump.
18:42And on the other side,
18:44this decentralizing dynamics
18:46when we saw this outbreak of sectarian violences,
18:51the massive violences that we saw against Alawites,
18:55Druze, and Israel and the Israeli government,
18:58they look to be on the side of advocating
19:01for this decentralization of Syria
19:03and not having a centralized, powerful state in Syria again.
19:07So if Donald Trump is actually telling the truth
19:10and that Ahmad Al-Shara did promise him
19:13that he would normalize ties with Israel,
19:15how do you do it when we've seen since December
19:18Israel increase the amount of territory
19:21it controls in that buffer zone next to the Golan Heights?
19:25I think Ahmad Al-Shara here,
19:27the position that he has shown from the beginning
19:30is a position of, how to put it,
19:35of moderation, not really answering
19:38to the Israeli interventions in Syria,
19:42being really careful about this
19:44because I think he knows that him and his governments,
19:47they have no way, no means
19:50to have a more autonomous or powerful position
19:54in this regard.
19:56So what Ahmad Al-Shara and his government
19:58have been looking for in the last months
19:59is the conditions to lift the sanctions.
20:02And we really have seen that in the last months.
20:05Ahmad Al-Shara trying different positions.
20:08So if I say that I may join the Abraham Accords,
20:10does that work?
20:11Does that allow us to lift the sanctions?
20:13If I say that I'm ready to do agreements,
20:16business agreements, critical raw materials agreements,
20:18does that work?
20:19So yes, now it's, in terms of Ahmad Al-Shara's position,
20:23I think it's quite clear that him and his government
20:26they're ready to head towards this direction.
20:29It's less clear, of course,
20:31with regards to the Israeli government.
20:33The Israeli government,
20:34which has ordered more airstrikes
20:37this Wednesday inside of the Gaza Strip,
20:41some 80 killed, according to Palestinian medics.
20:45Most of those, this time in the north,
20:48we'd seen on Tuesday that the European hospital
20:51in Han Yunus in the south had got hit.
20:54This is images from Tuesday
20:57when we saw that first explosion there.
20:59For more, let's go to Gaza City
21:02and correspondent Shruk al-Ayla.
21:08We've just lost the connection with Gaza City.
21:11Gaza City where Israel has ordered
21:14the evacuation of a neighborhood.
21:16Remember that on Tuesday,
21:18the Israeli prime minister
21:21talked about next week
21:23sending in more troops into Gaza.
21:30Every day, worried mothers come to this hospital
21:33in the north of the Gaza Strip.
21:36They are searching for food supplements
21:38for their starving children.
21:40I brought her here because she is malnourished
21:44and I wanted to follow up on her health.
21:46Currently, we don't have anything to eat or drink,
21:48so I came here to get some biscuit packs
21:50or milk powder to help her gain weight.
21:55Two months after food and aid deliveries
21:58were halted by Israel,
21:59the war-torn enclave is running out of essential supplies.
22:04If the blockade persists,
22:05all 2.1 million Gazans
22:07would be at critical risk of famine,
22:09according to a UN-backed assessment.
22:12Overwhelmed hospitals are in a state of crisis.
22:16The Al-Shifa emergency ward has 50 beds
22:18but regularly has to admit 500 patients per day.
22:22The in-patients department
22:24only has 110, 120 beds.
22:27There's 12 ICU in Shifa.
22:30They just opened a third operation theater.
22:34That is good, but it's a far cry
22:37of where Shifa was before the crisis and the war.
22:40Before the crisis and the war,
22:42Shifa had 22 operation theaters.
22:45Speaking to the UN Security Council in New York,
22:48the head of humanitarian operations
22:50said that world leaders must act now
22:52to prevent a genocide.
22:54What more evidence do you need now?
22:56Will you act decisively to prevent genocide
23:01and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law?
23:07Or will you say instead that we did all we could?
23:10Israel proposed a new aid plan for the enclave
23:14using a private charity and U.S. security firms.
23:18They would replace the United Nations
23:20and would deliver goods only to those Israel deems in need.
23:25Tel Aviv has accused the UN of sticking to an aid system
23:28that feeds Hamas
23:29while civilians and hostages starve to death.
23:32The United Nations, however, has rejected the plan,
23:35saying it weaponizes aid
23:37and threatens to cause mass displacement of Palestinians.
23:43And Kerevan Gorgastani,
23:45I'll read you the reaction of Italy's Prime Minister,
23:48Georgia Maloney, one of Israel's closest allies.
23:51She calls the humanitarian situation in Gaza,
23:53quote,
23:54dramatic and unjustifiable.
23:57More and more isolation for Israel in the current context.
24:01And Netanyahu hitting back
24:03and hitting back at the French president.
24:05Yes, Emmanuel Macron,
24:06who had pretty much similar words,
24:08like Georgia Maloney yesterday
24:10when he had his two-hour-plus debate on TV,
24:16where he really talked about the humanitarian situation,
24:19saying it was unacceptable,
24:21and reiterating the fact that Israel was preventing aid
24:24from getting in to Gaza
24:26and that Israel should open up Gaza to humanitarian aid.
24:31And Netanyahu responding today,
24:34accusing Emmanuel Macron of siding
24:36with a murderous Islamist terrorist organization.
24:40So pretty strong words there directed at Emmanuel Macron.
24:44And obviously, we'll see if Netanyahu
24:48has the same sort of comments towards Georgia Maloney.
24:53But it is true that you've seen this sort of tit-for-tat
24:56between the French president and the Israeli prime minister.
25:00But yes, you're seeing more and more countries
25:03that were usually not too keen to say these things out loud
25:08actually really putting the spot on Benjamin Netanyahu.
25:12Kerevan Gurdjistani, many thanks.
25:13I want to thank Agat Hanem for being with us
25:15for this special edition.
25:18Stay with us.
25:18There's much more to come.
25:20Next, we'll go to the Cannes Film Festival.
25:21It's day two, first screenings of movies in competition.