CAIRO (Reuters) – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will visit Moscow on Wednesday, pro-government Syria TV and a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, despite the postponement of an Arab summit there that he had planned to attend.
Sharaa is set to hold talks on the continued presence of Russia’s naval base in Tartous and its air base in Hmeimim, a Syrian official source said.
He will also formally request the handover of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally, for trial over alleged crimes against Syrians, the source added.
Sharaa, who once headed the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, led rebels into Damascus in December and installed a new government. Assad fled the capital and was granted asylum in Russia.
Moscow has since attempted to preserve ties with Syria’s new authorities, including offering Damascus diplomatic support over Israeli strikes on Syrian territory.
In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Moscow.
Shibani’s visit was the first since Assad’s ouster.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Kinda Makieh and Maya Gebeily, writing by Jaidaa Taha; editing by Mark Heinrich, Rod Nickel)
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