Syria's interim president signs deal with Kurdish-led SDF to merge forces

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Commander of Syrian Kurdish-led forces Mazloum Abdi shake hands, after Syria reached a deal to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday, in Damascus, Syria, in this handout released on March 10, 2025. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

CAIRO (Reuters) -The Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls much of Syria's oil-rich northeast, signed a deal with the Damascus government on Monday to join Syria's new state institutions, the Syrian presidency said on Monday.

Photos showed interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi shaking hands in Damascus on the agreement that provides for SDF-controlled civilian and military institutions in northeast Syria to be integrated with the state.