Bombs explode near Damascus hotel housing Macron on Syria visit

Blasts did not interrupt French president’s visit but are setback for Syrian leaders’ attempt to project stability

Explosions rocked Damascus near the hotel where French president, Emmanuel Macron , was staying on Tuesday, wounding at least 18 people, Syrian authorities said.

Macron was in the presidential palace for a meeting with the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, when two improvised explosive devices detonated near the Four Seasons hotel where Macron was reported to be staying.

The Four Seasons hosts UN staff and foreign diplomats and is one of the most well-guarded facilities in the Syrian capital.

The explosions did not interrupt Macron’s visit, Syrian state media said, publishing pictures of the French and Syrian presidents embracing in the presidential palace.

But the explosions were a setback for Syria’s new rulers, who have sought to project an image of stability and have sought to attract foreign investors since the toppling of the former president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Macron is the first major western leader to visit Syria since Assad was forced out, and his meeting with Sharaa in Damascus was viewed as a major recognition of Sharaa. Sharaa and his ministers have worked hard to distance themselves from their pasts as Islamist fighters in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which grew out of al-Qaida.

France has been one of the most supportive western governments of Sharaa’s rule, pushing the US to drop sanctions on Syria and playing a key role in mediating between Syria and Israel.

Macron posted on X a few hours after the explosion: “Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic and united Syria. This morning I met Syria in all its diversity. I saw dignity, courage and determination.”

Macron and Sharaa announced after their meeting that the two countries would designate ambassadors, a significant resumption of diplomatic ties after France severed relations in 2012 in response to Assad’s crackdown on protests.

Macron has been accompanied by an economic delegation, including Jacques Saadé, the head of the shipping conglomerate CMA CGM, who has Syrian origins, as well as the CEO of Total Energies. French companies signed more than a dozen agreements, a move that is likely to boost investor confidence in the war-battered country, which is struggling to lift itself out of economic malaise.

The agreements signed included deals to rebuild destroyed water and electricity infrastructure in the city of Homs, provide technical assistance to Syria’s central bank, and capacity building for Damascus airport with CMA CGM.

Another agreement was to begin the process of returning £43.6m of illicit assets taken from Syria by Rifaat al-Assad, the late uncle of Bashar al-Assad, who fled to France after attempting to overthrow Assad’s father.

A video of one of the explosions on Tuesday showed Syrian police officers standing around what appeared to be a bin before the bin exploded, wounding four officers.

The Syrian interior ministry said another IED was placed in a parked car and that 18 people were wounded in total. The interior ministry said an investigation was under way to determine who was responsible for the attack.

Last Thursday an IED placed in a busy cafe near the Justice Palace in Damascus killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 20. No group has claimed responsibility for that attack.

Syria has recently struggled with attacks from various armed groups, including Islamic State and groups linked to the former Assad regime. Damascus had been largely spared from violence until last week, even as other areas of the country saw kidnappings and assassinations as the new government tried to assert itself.

Besides security, the economic malaise created by 14 years of war and crushing sanctions is the main challenge facing postwar Syria. About 90% of people in Syria live in poverty and the country’s infrastructure is in desperate needs of repairs as a result of the war. Basic services such as electricity are inconsistent in parts of the country, including Damascus.