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NEW YORK – Syria’s interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa touched down in New York on Sunday to attend the United Nations General Assembly, marking the first time in nearly 60 years that a Syrian head of state has joined the annual gathering.

The last Syrian president to take the podium in New York was in 1967, before the Assad family’s five-decade grip on power. That rule collapsed last December, when Bashar Assad was ousted by a lightning rebel campaign spearheaded by Al-Sharaa, bringing an end to almost 14 years of civil war.

Since taking office, the former rebel commander has sought to rebrand himself as a statesman, meeting world leaders including US President Donald Trump in Riyadh and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris earlier this year. He has also attempted to men

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