US: Washington removes sanctions on Syria

The White House decided to lift US sanctions on Syria to support the country after years of civil war, according to Asharq Al-Awsat via Reuters on July 8th.

In December, a opposition faction led by HTS expelled Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive. Then the HTS leader Ahmed al-sharaa became Syria’s president. The leader intends to build an inclusive and democratic Syria.

HTS, a leading faction in Syrian politics, was previously known as al-Nusra Front when it was al-Qaeda’s Syria branch. It broke ties with al-Qaeda in 2016.

Previously, al-Sharaa met with President Donald Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where, in a major policy shift, as reported by Maghrebi on May 14th, the republican president announced that he would lift the US sanctions placed upon Syria, indicating that Washington to massively eased its measures.

“This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision for a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, adding that the revocation comes into effect on July 8th.

Previously, Trump signed an executive order ending US sanction programmes on Syria, a decision that aims to end the country’s isolation from the international financial system. Syria’s foreign ministry said to Reuters that removing sanctions on HTS was a “positive step towards correcting a course that previously hindered constructive engagement.”

The written letter states that Syria hoped the move would “contribute to the removal of remaining restrictions that continue to affect Syrian institutions and officials, and open the door to a rational, sovereign-based approach to international cooperation.”

The ministry also states that al-Sharaa was planning to attend the upcoming United Nations general assembly this September. The UN security council still has sanctions for HTS and al-Sharaa himself, which require a UN council decision to be lifted.

Asharq Al-Awsat via Reuters, Maghrebi.org