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IT WASaHTSUNhtseuHTSunHTSHTSSDFSDFSDFhtsUNHTSYour browser does not support the element. very social week for a man with a $10m bounty on his head. Foreign diplomats rushed to Damascus to talk with Ahmad al-Sharaa (pictured), the rebel commander who led the offensive that ousted Bashar al-Assad. His Islamist faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (), is blacklisted as a terrorist group by America, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations. That did not prevent him from meeting Geir Pedersen, the special envoy for Syria, or delegations from Britain, France, Qatar, Turkey and other countries.After more than a decade of civil war, Syria is emerging from isolation. But Mr Sharaa’s meetings this week point to the challenges ahead: sceptical foreign powers, uncertain politics and a worsening conflict in the country’s north-east.An interim government, dominated by , is meant to rule until March. One of its priorities is to persuade Western governments to lift the sanctions imposed during Mr Assad’s reign. America has broad restrictions aimed at Syria’s energy and construction sectors, both of which will be vital for post-war reconstruction.In a letter to Joe Biden, the lawmakers who wrote one of America’s sanctions bills urged the president to move quickly in removing the restrictions. “The fall of the Assad regime presents a pivotal opportunity,” they argued. But other members of Congress seem inclined to wait. So do European governments. Kaja Kallas, the ’s foreign-policy chief, said the bloc would only start lifting sanctions once has taken “positive steps” towards creating an inclusive government.Early signs of that are mixed. In recent days Mr Sharaa has met representatives of minority groups, including the Druze, and rival rebel groups, like the faction that led the uprising in southern Syria earlier this month. Meeting them is one thing, though; giving them a role in a post-Assad government is another.The road map for Syria’s political transition has long been Resolution 2254, approved by the Security Council in 2015, which calls for an 18-month process that culminates in new elections. On December 14th a group of Western and regional powers met in Jordan and reiterated their support for the resolution.But when Mr Sharaa met Mr Pedersen a day later, the leader said it was time to reconsider the plan. On some level, he is right. The resolution’s call for dialogue between the Assad regime and the opposition is clearly no longer relevant. Talk of discarding the resolution, though, leaves some Syrians fearing that may eschew dialogue altogether—and that it will seek to monopolise control.Wrangling with foreign powers is hardly easier. Mr Sharaa has condemned Israel for carrying out hundreds of air strikes and seizing territory in southern Syria. On the northern border Turkey is building up forces, both its own troops and members of a Syrian mercenary outfit. It seems to be planning a larger offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (), a Kurdish-led militia that controls much of north-east Syria. Turkey considers it a terrorist group because of its ties to Kurdish rebels.This would not be the first time Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has threatened such a move. But this time he may be serious: the Assad regime’s overthrow has left the vulnerable. On December 17th a spokesman for America’s State Department said Turkey had agreed to extend a ceasefire with the until the end of the week—a very brief respite.Meanwhile, some European countries want to withhold sanctions relief unless Russia is forced out of its military bases in Syria. According to Ms Kallas, “many foreign ministers” believe “it should be a condition for the new leadership that they also get rid of the Russian influence.” is negotiating with Russia about the bases. A source close to the group says it wants to be pragmatic. For now, though, Russia is scrambling to withdraw hundreds of troops and military vehicles from other parts of Syria, consolidating its forces at Khemeimim air base near the coast.Russia’s leverage is limited. It could threaten to block efforts to lift sanctions on —but if the group eventually dissolves itself, as Mr Sharaa has promised, those sanctions will be moot. It could also offer humanitarian aid to Syria, though it might find itself in a bidding war. Ukraine has already offered to supply wheat.Syria will soon have a pressing need for basic commodities. Iran had been shipping as much as 80,000 barrels of free oil per day. Those deliveries have been halted. Syria could buy oil on the spot market, but that requires hard currency, which is scarce. Foreign reserves are believed to have fallen as low as $200m, down from $17bn before the war. Mr Assad and his cronies are thought to have stolen billions.After more than a week of silence, on December 16th a statement attributed to Mr Assad appeared on a social-media account he previously used. He claimed he never wanted to flee Syria—“the only course of action was to continue fighting”—but that his Russian backers forced him to evacuate. Though it could not be authenticated, the missive sounded like Mr Assad. It was widely mocked by Syrians, and then forgotten: another sign of how quickly the former president, who loomed so large over Syrian life for decades, has faded into irrelevance.
