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A UN envoy called for a swift end to Western sanctions on Sunday Syria as the country’s new leaders and regional and global powers begin to chart a path forward after the fall of President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result Assad’s brutal response in what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and later turned into civil war.
The rebel alliance who toppled Assad and broke his iron grip on the country just days ago faces a devastated nation deeply isolated by harsh international sanctions, which exacerbated Syria’s earlier economic problems. But other challenges also complicate the rebuilding of Syria: The new transitional leadership has not laid out a clear vision of how the country will be governed, and the main group behind the offensive is saddled with a terrorist designation by the US.
The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, told reporters in Damascus that getting Syria back on track after the last tumultuous weeks will be helped by a quick easing of sanctions.
“We hope that we can see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can really see a rally around building Syria,” he said.
Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images
Parts of Syria’s largest cities remain damaged or destroyed by years of fighting. Reconstruction has been largely hampered by sanctions that sought to prevent the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure and property in government-controlled areas in the absence of a political solution.
Pedersen traveled to Damascus to meet with officials in the new interim government formed by the former opposition forces that ousted Assad, led by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Officials in Washington have indicated that the Biden administration is considering removing the group’s terror designation. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday officials have been in direct contact with the group
Over the weekend, Blinken attended an emergency meeting in Jordan where he said he secured the support of the 12 foreign ministers of the Arab League, Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and the United Nations on how Syria should be run after decades of Assad family. rule
They agreed that the new government should respect the rights of minorities and women, prevent terrorist groups from taking over, ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those most in need, and secure and destroy the remaining chemical weapons of the era of Assad. Blinken has promised that the United States would recognize and support a new government that lives up to these principles.
A readout of President Biden’s virtual call with G7 leaders said they discussed “the need for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process” among other issues in the Middle East.
With the Biden administration’s clock running out, it’s unclear what approach President-elect Donald Trump will take on Syria.
Syria’s interim government will rule until March, but has not yet made clear the process by which a new permanent administration would replace it.
“We need to start the political process that includes all Syrians,” Pedersen said. “This process obviously has to be led by the Syrians themselves.”
He has called for “justice and accountability for the crimes” committed during the war and for the international community to increase humanitarian aid.
In a sign of Syrians’ longing for a return to normality, even after the whirlwind rebel offensive of recent weeks, schools in Damascus reopened on Sunday for the first time since insurgents marched on the capital.
At the Nahla Zaidan school in the capital’s Mezzah neighborhood, teachers hoisted the three-star revolutionary flag instead of the former government’s two-star Syrian flag.
“Syria is trying to build this country with these children who came. Although I think some of them are afraid, they came to build Syria and to experience the victories of this country,” said Maysoun Al-Ali, director of the school
“God willing, there will be more development, more security and more construction in this beloved country.”
