Appointment of ambassadors linked to HTS A criticized, resented

The Syrian Interim Government recently took a controversial step, appointing an entire team of individuals closely associated with Hayet Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), including former members of its various factions in Idlib, as ambassadors to key international capitals.

The appointments included names linked to the so-called "political affairs" department in Idlib for years, who were sent as official representatives abroad. These include:

Mohamed Qanatri (Washington)

Ashhad Salibi (Moscow)

Mohsen Muhbash (Riyadh)

Dr. Mohamed al-Ahmed (Cairo)

Iyad al-Hazza (Beirut)

Mohamed Baraa Shukri (Germany)

Zakaria Lababidi (China)

According to observers, "Mohamed Yasser remained in his position as Director of the General Secretariat for Political Affairs, retaining broad powers in ‘engineering the party's internal structure,’ away from the diplomatic spotlight."

This approach sparked a wave of criticism from Syrian academics and human rights activists, who considered the appointments a mere "repetition of the previous factional system's practices," lacking specialized diplomatic expertise or international experience.

They considered that this approach reinforces what is known as "factional diplomacy" and restricts the international acceptance of Syrian embassies, particularly in Western capitals, which are wary of ambassadors' backgrounds linked to the faction.