Syrian president addresses UN General Assembly for first time in six decades

UNITED NATIONS — In a historic moment, Syria’s president Ahmad al-Sharaa addressed the U.N. General Assembly, the first time a Syrian head of state has spoken at the U.N. in nearly six decades. Al-Sharaa said Syria is returning to the international community after six decades of dictatorship that killed about 1 million people and tortured hundreds of thousands, and that Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world.

Al-Sharaa became the first Syrian head of state to address the United Nations since Noureddine Attasi spoke in 1967, shortly after the Arab-Israeli war, during which Damascus lost control of the Golan Heights that Israel later annexed in 1981.

The Assad family’s autocratic, repressive 50-year rule collapsed in December, when then-President Bashar Assad was ousted in a swift insurgent offensive led by al-Sharaa, ending nearly 14 years of civil war.

Al-Sharaa blasted Israel in his speech, saying that it did not stop its threats since the fall of Bashar Assad in December, adding that its policies contradict the international community’s support to Syria and its people and endanger the region and could trigger conflicts whose outcomes no one can predict.

Negotiations have been underway for a security deal that al-Sharaa has said could bring about a withdrawal of Israeli forces and return to the 1974 disengagement agreement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in remarks Sunday, appeared to downplay the odds of a breakthrough.

Bassem Mroue of the Associated Press reported from Beirut.