UN chief to visit Syria for first time since 2009

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Syria later this week in the first visit to the country by a UN chief since 2009, the United Nations said.

Claudio Cordone, the deputy UN special envoy to Syria, told a Security Council meeting that Guterres would travel at the invitation of the Syrian government. Cordone said the visit was intended to show support for the country's political transition.

During the trip, Guterres is expected to meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who ousted longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. He will also meet representatives of civil society and non-governmental organisations that support women's issues.

Cordone said Guterres would reaffirm the United Nations' commitment to supporting the Syrian government and the Syrian people during what he called a defining period in Syria's history.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres would also visit UN peacekeepers stationed in a buffer zone in the Golan Heights since 1974 to maintain the ceasefire between Israel and Syria.

Guterres will be the first UN secretary-general to visit Syria since Ban Ki-moon in 2009. A UN Security Council delegation visited Syria in December.