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UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres visited Syria over the weekend (25-26 July) for first official visit by a UN chief in 17 years. In Damascus, the UN chief met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa,  Guterres appealed to the international community to support the people of Syria and criticised Israel’s actions in the country’s south as he kicked off his first visit to the Arab nation as the UN chief, nearly two years after the fall of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad. Guterres arrived on Saturday morning at Damascus international airport, where he and his delegation were met by Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Syria’s state news agency reported. Shortly after his arrival, Guterres held talks with Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, before touring the old quarter of Damascus and the famous Umayyad Mosque. The UN chief also visited the notorious Sednaya military prison, a sprawling complex just north of Damascus that has become synonymous with some of the worst atrocities committed under the al-Assad family’s rule. The visit comes as Syria is trying to recover from the civil war that broke out in March 2011 and killed nearly half a million people, causing widespread destruction that will cost tens of billions of dollars to rebuild. The UN “stands with Syria at this pivotal moment”, Guterres said in a post on X after landing in Damascus. “I appeal to the international community to spare no effort to support the people of Syria as well,” he added. A statement from al-Sharaa’s office said his meeting with the UN chief addressed strengthening cooperation between Syria and the UN “in the humanitarian and development fields”. Meanwhile, al-Shaibani called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where they deployed in 2024 after the ouster of al-Assad. “We underscore the importance of fully respecting Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity,” Guterres told a news conference on Saturday. “Violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are unacceptable and must cease. What is happening in the region around the Golan Heights is totally unacceptable,” he said, adding: “I’d like to remind the international community that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory.” After al-Assad’s overthrow, Israel sent troops into the buffer zone that separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights for decades, and has carried out strikes and repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory. Israeli officials say they intend to keep forces in a “security zone” in southern Syria. Al-Shibani said there can be no regional peace amid the continuation of Israeli military operations and occupation that form a “direct threat to the security of the region”.