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28 January 2025 - The situation in Syria - Oral evidence

Committee Foreign Affairs Committee
Inquiry The situation in Syria

Tuesday 28 January 2025

Start times: 1:30pm (private) 2:00pm (public)


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How stable is the post-Assad coalition? Foreign Affairs Committee to hold session on Syria 

The Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a one-off evidence session on the situation in Syria, at 2pm on Tuesday 28 January.  

During the first panel, the Committee will hear evidence from Lina Khatib, Chatham House MENA expert and fellow and Simon Collis, the former UK Ambassador to Syria. The panel will examine the factors that led to the fall of Assad and will also assess the stability of the current regime, led by Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Questions are likely to cover whether HTS has truly departed from its jihadist and fundamentalist origins. Members are likely to ask about the role of outside powers in the fall of the Assad regime, including Turkey, Russia, the US, Israel and Iran.  

Richard Barrett, former Director of Counter-terrorism at MI6 and former head of the UN al-Qaeda/Taliban Monitoring Team, will give evidence in the second panel, alongside Paul Jordan, Head of Responding to Security Crises at the European Institute of Peace, and Professor Harmonie Toros, Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading. During this panel, the Committee will focus on the security situation in northeast Syria, the stability of detention camps and prisons housing Islamic State foreign fighters, and the likelihood of the Islamic State exploiting the new situation in Syria. 

Meeting details

At 2:00pm: Oral evidence
Work The situation in Syria (Non-inquiry session)
Associate Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House
former British Ambassador to Iraq, Syria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
At 3:15pm: Oral evidence
Work The situation in Syria (Non-inquiry session)
former Director of Counter-terrorism at MI6, and former head of the UN al-Qaeda/Taliban Monitoring Team at United Nations
Head of Responding to Security Crises at European Institute of Peace
Professor in Politics and International Relations at University of Reading

Members are likely to ask about the relationship between HTS and the Islamic State and whether HTS has the capabilities to defeat any resurgence of the Islamic State. Members will also consider arguments for and against the repatriation of foreign fighters who joined Islamic State and their families.

Location

The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

How to attend