• According to the annual list of 100 most influential personalities collected by “Time” magazine, Syrian president Ahmad Al-Sharaa is among the most influential leaders.
• Syria’s leaders’ success in progressing Syria cannot go unnoticed.
Ahmad Al-Sharra is among the most influential leaders in Time magazine, a famous American news magazine that is deemed one of the most authoritative and informative guides to what is happening in politics, business, health, science and entertainment.
Time magazine has included Syrian president Ahmad Al-Sharaa in its top 100 most influential list as one of the most influential leaders.
Some other influential leaders included this year were President Donald Trump; Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom; Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh; Prime Minister Friedrich Merz of Denmark and others.
The magazine emphasises Sharaa’s alliances forged and the transition to a political leader.
When speaking to Sharaa, Robert Ford, a distinguished diplomatic fellow and former US ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014 said he “reached out to reassure minority groups—to beat Assad, the ambitious al-Sharaa understood he had to become a political leader as well as a military force.”
New governments successes
It has been more than 4 months since Syrian rebels entered Damascus with Ahmad Sharaa leading the way.
The global reaction has been mixed with an uncertain future for the war-torn nation’s future.
Here is a list of some of the achievements of the new Syrian government:
1. Defeating two Israeli attempts to seize the southwestern province of Quneitra, the so-called “Druze Project”
2. Disbanded all armed militias in the country
3. Launched a national anti-drug operation and completely dismantled Captagon labs and smuggling routes.
4. Dismantled any force loyal to Iran almost in its entirety.
5. Secured temporary sanctions relief from the EU, UK & U.S. with the potential of many more to come.
6. Restored oil refinery production to 95k barrels a day with the potential of more to come.
7. Restored public services in Aleppo and Hama, including water, electricity, and hospitals.
8. Restored diplomatic relations with many countries, including a new country that had not had relations with before the civil war, South Korea.
9. Signed early agreements with Qatar, the UAE, and Egypt for reconstruction and energy investments.
10. Recovered control over oil fields and phosphate mines and restarted exports.
11. Reopened border crossings with Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey for trade.
12. Reopened Damascus International Airport.
13. Reinstated the Syrian pound as the official currency in all of Syria.
14. Rebuilt major parts of the M5 highway that links Damascus to Aleppo and Homs.
15. Restored internet and telecom services in the eastern provinces.
16. Deployed a newly trained national police force.
17. Established a sovereign Syrian Central Bank and a temporary stabilisation fund.
18. Started repatriation programmes of Syrians from Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq.
19. Reopened all historical mosques and churches that were damaged during the war in Homs and Aleppo.
20. Signed a joint archaeological restoration agreement with UNESCO to rebuild Palmyra and Old Aleppo.
21. Reclaimed hundreds of looted Syrian artefacts through UNESCO and Interpol.
