trump-orders-review-of-syrian-leader-s-terrorist-designation

United States President Donald Trump revoked decades-old sanctions on the Syrian government after Trump ordered a review of the militant designation of the now Defacto leader, Ahmad Al Sharaa, who toppled the Bashar Al Assad regime. Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at lifting the broad sanctions while maintaining targeted sanctions against his former government, which was toppled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

 

Although the sanctions against the designated group shall remain in place, Trump’s order directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to review the HTS designation as a foreign terrorist organisation.

 

The order said that Washington will also review Syria’s status as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, a designation that was imposed in 1979.

 

This comes after Trump’s surprise meeting with the HTS leader Ahmad Al Sharaa in Riyadh, where the two leaders focused on discussions revolving around the reconstruction of the country, along with potential normalisation with Israel.

 

During the meeting, Trump promised to provide new leadership in Damascus, “a chance at greatness”.

 

Also read: Trump defends Netanyahu, calls corruption trial a ‘witch hunt’ 

 

Meanwhile, on Monday, Trump’s envoy, Thomas Barack, acknowledged the controversy here, as Sharaa was associated with the resistance group Al-Nusra Front, which fought against the Assad regime during 12 years of civil war that ended in a full-fledged war in 2012.

 

During a briefing at the State Department, “If you remember, we had a Revolutionary War that lasted 14 months. And we had brutality… And from 1776, when we declared independence, it was 12 years until we got a president. And who was the president? The president was a general… It was George Washington.”

 

Barack said, Syria is in a unique position where its new leadership, despite their controversial past, can turn the fortune of the country with the western help, and that's“what we are going to do”.

 

“The US is taking further actions to support a Syria that is stable, unified, and at peace with itself and its neighbours,” Rubio wrote in a post on X on Monday.