Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Gen. Mazloum Abdi make an odd couple. Abdi is a Kurdish rebel leader whose secular army boasts all-women units and fights alongside the U.S. military. Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Golani, is a former franchisee of Al Qaeda who runs the new Islamist government in Damascus.
Yet the two men, both of whom traded in their military fatigues for ill-fitting suits, were shaking hands and grinning for the camera on Monday. They had an agreement—at least in principle—for Abdi's Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to merge into the government in exchange for Sharaa recognizing Kurds' hard-won rights. The exact details would be hammered out by the end of 2025 by a newly formed committee.
The deal was an attempt by war-weary Syrian factions to stop their country's violence once and for all. It was also a triumph of behind-the-scenes U.S. diplomacy. The U.S. government has been playing "a very crucial role" in the negotiations, sources told Reuters. And that role, including American mediators in the room, has been an open secret. Abdi was photographed flying to Damascus on a U.S. military helicopter, flanked by U.S. troops. Gen. Michael Kurilla, head of U.S. forces in the Middle East, had publicly visited Syria and met with SDF leaders the weekend before the meeting.
