Long-shuttered US ambassador's residence in Damascus is reopened as Washington mends ties with Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria — An American flag was hoisted outside of the long-shuttered U.S. ambassador's residence in Damascus on Thursday, in a sign of growing ties between Washington and the new Syrian government. The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who has also been appointed special envoy to Syria, arrived to inaugurate the residence, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported. He met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and attended the signing of an agreement for a consortium of Qatari, Turkish and U.S. companies for development of a 5,000-megawatt energy project to revitalize much of Syria's war-battered electricity grid. Under the deal signed Thursday, a consortium led by Qatar's UCC Concession Investments — along with Power International USA and Turkey's Kalyon GES Enerji Yatirimlari, Cengiz Enerji — will develop four combined-cycle gas turbines with a total generating capacity estimated at approximately 4,000 megawatts and a 1,000-megawatt solar power plant. A statement sent out by UCC said that "once completed, these projects are expected to to supply over 50% of the country's electricity needs." Washington hasn't formally reopened its embassy in Damascus, which closed in 2012 after protests against the government of then President Bashar Assad, met by a brutal crackdown, spiraled into civil war. Assad was unseated in December in a lightning rebel offensive. But Barrack's visit and the raising of the flag were a significant signal of warming relations. Washington was initially circumspect about Syria's new leaders, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group that the U.S. still lists as a terrorist organization. However, the Trump administration — encouraged by two U.S. allies in the region, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — has in recent weeks shown increasing openness to Damascus. Trump held a surprise meeting with al-Sharaa in Riyadh earlier this month, and the U.S. has begun to roll back decades of sanctions slapped on Syria under the Assad dynasty. The U.S. State Department posted a statement on X on Thursday attributed to Trump announcing Barrack's appointment as envoy to Syria. "Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop Radicalism, improve Relations, and secure Peace in the Middle East. Together, we will Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!" the statement said. Barrack thanked Trump in an X post for "your bold vision, empowering a historically rich region, long oppressed, to reclaim its destiny through self-determination."