First she did not receive a hand from the new Syrian leader, now German minister Annalena Baerbock has also been censored by the Syrian news channel

“When I arrived, it became clear to me that it is apparently not the custom here to shake hands,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock responded to a question from a journalist on Friday. It was also made clear to the Muslim host that this practice is disapproved: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, with whom she traveled to the Syrian capital on behalf of the European Union, did not extend his hand to al-Sharaa to warn him. greet.

A gesture that clearly had little impact on Almharar, the Syrian news channel linked to the Free Syrian Army that recently seized power in the country. Although the channel is close to the new rulers, it is not an official Syrian news agency like Sana.

While Sana showed uncensored photos showing Baerbock next to Ahmad al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaybani, among others, Almharar made her completely unrecognizable. In photos posted to Telegram, Baerbock was always blurred, unlike her male companions.

Pragmatic and tolerant

Although Almharar is not an official news agency, the censored images do raise the question of how Islamist the new Syrian rulers really are. In recent weeks, Ahmad al-Sharaa has done everything he can to convince everyone that he has changed. He abandoned his ‘nom de guerre’ Abu Mohammad al-Golani and presented himself and his movement as pragmatic and tolerant. In Aleppo he reached out to local Christians and sent a conciliatory message to the Kurds. In an interview with CNN, he said that he is against attacks, that he wants to avoid civilian casualties, that he has no dictatorial ambitions and that he wants to make Syria a country with strong institutions.