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Syria FM says scrapping sanctions ‘key’ to country’s stability

AFP
Thursday, Jan 23, 2025

DAVOS, Switzerland: Syria´s top diplomat said on Wednesday that lifting economic sanctions imposed during the rule of ousted president Bashar al-Assad was “key” to restoring stability in the war-torn country.

For weeks, Syria´s new authorities have been lobbying Western powers to scrap restrictions that had targeted Assad´s administration over his brutal 2011 crackdown on anti-government protests, which triggered the country´s civil war.

But the international community has been hesitant to roll back the measures, with many countries -- including the US -- saying they are waiting to see how Syria´s new rulers exercise their power before doing so.

“Removing economic sanctions is the key for the stability of Syria,” Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said in a conversation with former British prime minister Tony Blair at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The sanctions, he added, were imposed for the benefit of Syrians, but are now “against the Syrian people”. On December 8, rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist group seized control of Damascus and ousted Assad, ending more than 50 years of his family´s iron-fisted rule.