(AFP) — Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa told visiting Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday that he was ready to stem “illegal immigration” to Europe, the European diplomat said.
“Sharaa says he is ready to block illegal immigration, (and) fight against drug traffickers… two crucial commitments for Italy,” Tajani said in the Lebanese capital, after visiting neighbouring Syria earlier in the day.
“I don’t want the Mediterranean to remain a migrant cemetery. We want it to be a sea of growth or trade,” he added.
Tajani’s trip to Damascus was the latest such visit from a European diplomat since Islamist-led rebels toppled president Bashar al-Assad in early December.
He had earlier spoken of easing the sanctions imposed on Syria under Assad.
“The sanctions absolutely must not hit the Syrian population,” he said in Damascus after meeting his…
