Washington announces: we do not currently recognize any entity as Government of Syria

In response to questions from the newspaper regarding the change in the nature of entry visas for diplomats working at the Syrian Permanent Mission to the United Nations, a US State Department spokesperson told Asharq Al-Awsat that the United States "recently provided guidance to the Syrian Mission to the United Nations in New York regarding the visa classification of its mission members," adding that this "administrative decision was made based on current US recognition policy."

He confirmed that US authorities "do not currently recognize any entity as the government of Syria," explaining that "visa classification is based in part on US recognition policy," and therefore "there has been no change to the privileges or immunities of accredited members of the Syrian Permanent Mission to the United Nations."

Syria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Qusay al-Dahhak, confirmed that US authorities had taken a decision regarding entry visas for Syrian diplomats, changing their classification from the "G1" category, reserved for diplomats accredited to the United Nations and whose governments are recognized by the host country, the United States, to the "G3" category, granted to foreigners working with the United Nations whose governments are not recognized by the United States.

The Syrian mission received a note to this effect from the US Department of State's Citizenship and Immigration Services, informing it that their G1 visas had been revoked and replaced with G3 visas. This is a clear indication that Washington does not recognize the current Syrian transitional government.

T/S

ANHA