The US president cited the 'positive actions' of an extremist-led government responsible for the mass killing and disappearances of hundreds of Alawite civilians on Syria's coast
News Desk - The Cradle
The order also calls for US officials to “ take all appropriate action with respect to the designation of Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other aliases, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization” and “Abu Mohammad al‑Julani, commonly known as Ahmad al-Sharaa, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.”
The executive order is scheduled to take effect on 1 July.
“Today’s actions . . . will end the country’s isolation from the international financial system, setting the stage for global commerce and galvanising investments from its neighbours in the region, as well as from the United States,” Brad Smith, acting under secretary of the office of terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Treasury Department told reporters on Tuesday.
However, the sweeping order maintains sanctions on former president Bashar al-Assad and his family as well as “ISIS or other terrorist organizations, human rights abusers, those linked to chemical weapons or proliferation-related activities, or other persons that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the United States, Syria, and its neighbors.”
The executive order would also “review” Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, White House officials said.
Trump first announced plans to lift sanctions that devastated Syria's economy for more than a decade and pushed over 90 percent of the population below the poverty line during a trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May.
Trump met Sharaa during this trip, praising the founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria and deputy commander to the founder of ISIS as a “young attractive guy” and a “fighter” with a “very strong past.”
Based on western media reports last month, the US government's conditions to lift sanctions against Syria included normalizing relations with Israel through signing the Abraham Accords and expelling Palestinian resistance factions from the country.
Washington has levied sanctions against Syria since 1979 for its foreign policy opposing Israel.
To block Syria’s post-war reconstruction, the harshest sanctions were imposed in 2019 by Congress through the passage of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act.
Trump's executive order was signed on the same day that Reuters reported that units associated with the Sharaa-led government played a key role in the mass killing of Alawite civilians on the Syrian coast in March.
Days after bands of extremists led by Sharaa – then known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani – took control of Syria last December, the US government removed a $10 million bounty for the self-proclaimed president.
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