The UN Security Council removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday, days before he was scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
"The council is sending a strong political signal that recognizes Syria is in a new era since Assad and his associates were toppled," US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said after Thursday's vote, referring to the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December 2024.
The resolution, drafted by the United States, also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab.
Of the 15 UNSC members, 14 countries voted in favor of the resolution while China abstained.
The US had first announced the major policy change in May and has since been urging the UNSC to ease Syrian sanctions.
Al-Sharaa is set to visit the White House on Monday, making him the first Syrian president to do so since the Arab country's Independence in 1946.
Why were they sanctioned in the first place?
The two Syrian leaders had been on the UNSC's international sanctions list because of their former links to the terrorist organization al-Qaeda.
Following 13 years of civil war in Syria, former President Bashar Assad was ousted in December after forces led by Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took over the capital Damascus in a lightning-fast offensive.
The HTS, formerly called Nusra Front, has been on the UN's sanction list since 2014. The group was al-Qaeda's official wing in Syria until they broke ties in 2016.
Courtesy: DW
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
