For the first time in nearly six decades, a Syrian president steps up to speak at the UN

UNITED NATIONS | Turning the page on decades of distance, Syria’s president addressed the U.N. General Assembly, marking the first time any president from his country has done so in almost 60 years.

Ahmad al-Sharaa said Wednesday that Syria is returning to the international community after six decades of dictatorship that killed 1 million people and tortured hundreds of thousands.

“Syria is reclaiming its rightful place among the nations of the world,” he told the assembly’s annual gathering of world leaders.

Al-Sharaa became the first Syrian head of state to speak at the United Nations since Noureddine Attasi gave a speech in 1967 shortly after the Arab-Israeli war, during which Damascus lost control of the Golan Heights that Israel later annexed in 1981.

The Assad family dynasty’s a