US to remove Syria's terrorism designation, special envoy says

Trump appointee Thomas Barrack raises American flag at US residence in Damascus

The US will remove Syria's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, a senior US diplomat said in Damascus on Thursday, clearing another major hurdle to the country's international rehabilitation.

"President Trump will soon announce Syria’s removal from the list,” Thomas Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, who was recently also appointed special envoy to Syria, said after a flag-raising ceremony at the US ambassador's residence in the Syrian capital.

President Donald Trump's decision this month to remove US sanctions on Syria, followed by a meeting with Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara in Saudi Arabia, have dramatically improved the strategic position of the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) government in Damascus.

In his youth, the new Syrian president was a prisoner of US forces in Iraq during the American-led war on terror. He was one of thousands of foreign fighters who travelled to the country after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. American troops arrested Mr Al Shara in 2005 and he was released about six years later.

However, the US President's decision came with the urging of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, two major backers of Mr Al Shara, who also heads HTS, a group formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda. HTS led a rebel offensive that ended more than 50 years of Assad family rule in December.

The EU followed suit and decided to remove its own sanctions on Syria's economy, while maintaining the individual sanctions imposed mostly on former dictator Bashar Al Assad and his associates.

Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara greets Tom Barrack in Damascus on Thursday. Sana via AP

Mr Al Shara took over a fragmented country with a shambolic economy after nearly 14 years of civil war. American officials have said one of the main reasons for the decision to lift the sanctions was the desire to improve living conditions quickly enough to prevent another civil war.

Washington imposed the terror designation on Syria in the late 1970s, when it was under the rule of Mr Al Assad's father Hafez Al Assad, over his support of militant groups in the Middle East.

Flanked by Syrian Foreign Minister Ahmad Al Shibani, Mr Barrack raised the US flag on the grounds of the US ambassador's residence in Damascus. The move precedes the reopening of the US embassy, which Mr Trump has said is coming.

During their meeting in Riyadh, he asked Mr Al Shara to join the Abraham Accords, which have established relations between Israel and several Arab states.

Mr Barrack said Israel and Syria should start working towards a peace deal, starting with a non-aggression pact and delineation of their borders.

Contacts so far between Israel and the new Syrian regime have focused on the sides cutting back their military presence near the Golan Heights, a Syrian political source said.

Syria is demanding that Israel withdraws its troops to a 1974 armistice line on the Golan Heights, the source said. The Israelis want the Syrian government to commit to an expanded demilitarised zone, free from heavy weapons, that runs from the Golan Heights to the outskirts of Damascus, the source said.