Syria’s de facto leader discussed easing international sanctions during a meeting with a British government delegation in Damascus on Monday.
US and EU officials have downplayed the chances of any immediate sanctions relief following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month [Getty]
Western nations must lift sanctions on Syria to enable the millions of refugees displaced by the war to return, the country’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said on Monday during a meeting with a delegation of British officials, according to HTS’s Telegram channel.
Al-Sharaa —previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — reiterated the message in an interview with the British daily The Times.
“They should lift all restrictions which were imposed on the flogger and the victim—the flogger is now gone,” he said, in what was his first interview with the Western media since taking power. “This issue is not up for negotiation.”
HTS has been in contact with several Western countries since toppling the Assad regime on 8 December.
Convincing them to ease the punishing sanctions regime on the country and remove HTS from their terror lists are among the transitional government’s top priorities.
The comments suggest the country’s new leader is suggesting a potential quid pro quo of returning Syria’s refugees in exchange for sanctions relief.
More than 1.5 million Syrians have migrated to Europe since the war erupted in 2011 while around 5.5 million reside in countries neighbouring Syria.
The prospect that Western nations could ease the sanctions regime following Assad’s ouster has so far been downplayed by US and EU officials, who suggested that any relief would be contingent on HTS backing a secular and inclusive government.
Several Western governments currently consider HTS a terrorist organisation because of its former affiliation with al-Qaeda. The US and the UK have suggested that the designation could be dropped if the group commits to secular governance that respects the country’s religious and ethnic minorities.
“We want to see a representative government, an inclusive government,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Sunday ahead of the British delegation’s visit to the country. He also announced that the UK would provide £50 million in humanitarian aid to support Syrian refugees.
A day earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington had begun engaging with Syria’s transitional government.
Al-Sharaa also pledged not to threaten Israel and committed to respecting the peace treaty that ended the 1973 war.
“We do not want any conflict whether with Israel or anyone else and we will not let Syria be used as a launchpad for attacks,” he told The Times.
“The Syrian people need a break, and the strikes must end and Israel has to pull back to its previous positions.”
