Ahmed al-Shara

Ahmad al-Shara, President of Syria, received Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart, on Tuesday, July 7, at the "People's Palace," the presidential palace of the country. This is the first visit by a Western European leader to Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Macron seeks to play a greater role for the "new" Syria in Middle Eastern equations and is attempting to rebuild his country's economic and political relations with Syria. Concurrent with Macron's visit, several explosions occurred in Damascus, leaving 18 wounded, four of whom were police officers.

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