Explosion near Macron’s Damascus hotel as French president meets Syrian counterpart
By Mostafa Salem, Pierre Bairin, Eyad Kourdi, Sana Noor Haq, CNN
(CNN) — An explosion went off near the Four Seasons Hotel in Damascus on Tuesday, where French President Emmanuel Macron had spent the night ahead of a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, according to French and Syrian media.
Macron was already at the Presidential Palace when the explosions occurred and was unharmed, the Élysée Palace said in a statement. France’s BFMTV, a CNN affiliate, said he had been staying at the Four Seasons hotel, which is regularly used by overseas visitors to Syria, including diplomats, NGO workers and journalists.
State-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said two separate blasts occurred while security officers were trying to dismantle explosive devices and injured 18 people, including four police officers. Authorities have launched an investigation into the blasts, SANA reported.
“Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria,” Macron said in a post on X shortly after the blasts that did not explicitly reference them.
The twin explosions early Tuesday took place less than a week after nine people were killed and 22 others injured in a separate attack in the Syrian capital, according to Syria’s Ministry of Health.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, which foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan condemned.
High stakes diplomacy
Macron is the first Western leader to make an official visit to Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December, 2024. He is only the third head of state to visit Syria in that time, after the emir of Qatar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist turned statesman, heralded “the new Syria” as he received Macron with a lavish reception at the Presidential Palace in Damascus on Tuesday. He described a country “that has decided to rise again and open the way for those who wish to build with it.”
The Syrian leader touted opportunities for strategic, business and commercial collaboration – at a meeting between French and Syrian delegations, including energy and shipping industry chiefs.
“Syria has a strategic location linking the Mediterranean with the Gulf and Iraq, and is only a few hours by sea from Marseille,” Al-Sharaa told the roundtable. “After the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the world realized the value of safe and stable corridors here.”
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot signed a series of agreements on economic co-operation, according to SANA.
The French and Syrian presidents convened in Damascus ahead of the NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara, which they are both scheduled to attend. Al-Sharaa will meet US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the conference, the White House said on Sunday.
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CNN’s Sarah Tamimi contributed reporting.
