Trump announces that he will raise all the sanctions imposed on Syria, “to give them a chance.” “It's their time to shine”
President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, May 13, that he will raise all the sanctions imposed on Syria. The announcement came the day before Trump's meeting, in Saudi Arabia, with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the new leader of Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Donald Trump/Photo: Shutterstock
“I will order the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a chance at greatness“, Trump told an investment forum in Riad, at the beginning of a tour in the Gulf Arab states. “It is their time to shine. We take them all“Said Trump: “Good luck to Syria, show us something very special”, writes Reuters.
Trump said he made this decision after discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, whose governments urged the sanctions.
The surprise measure was announced despite Israel's deep suspicions about Sharaa's administration, which described him as a jihadist, although he broke the ties with Al-Qaeda in 2016.
Meanwhile, Syrian officials have been open to an understanding and even a possible peace with Israel.
Trump said he would remove all sanctions, saying they had an important function, but now is the time for Syria to go further. He said that measures are being taken to restore normal relations with Syria and that US Secretary Marco Rubio will meet his Syrian counterpart this week.
American sanctions, imposed when Assad was in power, insulated Syria from the global financial system and discouraged foreign investments and trade, preventing reconstruction efforts after the war.
The Foreign Minister Syrian Asad Al-Shibani, told Reuters that he has marked a turning point for the Syrian people in his reconstruction efforts.
“We … We are ready to promote a relationship with the United States that is rooted in mutual respect, trust and common interests“Said Shibani.
Sharaa was for years the leader of the official wing of Al-Qaida in the Syrian conflict. He joined Al-Qaeda for the first time in Iraq, where he spent five years in an American prison. In December, the United States withdrew a $ 10 million reward on Sharaa's head.
Most laws on the sanctions adopted by Congress, including a 2019 package of severe sanctions against Syria, include a provision that allows the president to suspend them if they consider it in the interest of US national security.
The United Nations, which pressed the countries to raise sanctions against Syria, greeted this measure.
“It was important for us to see the lifting of sanctions on Syria to help the Syrian reconstruction, to help the Syrian people recover after more than a decade of conflict, a decade of insufficient investments ”said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Previously known as the Nusra front, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Ham was the official Al-Qaida wing until the links were broken in 2016. HTS was officially dissolved in January.
The group is on the list of those sanctioned by the UN Security Council against Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State for more than a decade, being subjected to an overall frost and an embargo on weapons. There are no UN sanctions against Syria because of the civil war.
It was not immediately clear whether the United States will also request the Security Council to lift the sanctions on HTS.
