The US administration has removed the Syrian Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from its list of "foreign terrorist organizations", according to an official State Department document released today, which added that US sanctions against Syria are being lifted.
"In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby withdraw the designation of Al-Nusra Front, also known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as a foreign terrorist organization," the June 23 memorandum, signed by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, states.
The memorandum will be officially published tomorrow in the Federal Register and will take effect on that date.
The decision, which was expected, comes after US President Donald Trump signed a decree on June 30 formalizing the lifting of US sanctions against Syria, a new step in the two countries' rapprochement following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On May 13, during a visit to Riyadh, Trump said he wanted to "give the new authorities in Damascus a chance."
He also met the next day with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Shareh, who led the coalition of radical Islamist rebel groups that ousted the Syrian president in December.
Since then, Washington has lifted most of its sanctions to facilitate Syria's return to the international financial system and is implementing permits to encourage new investment in Syria.
Syria, ruled by the Assad clan for several decades, has been subject to international sanctions since 1979.
Those sanctions were tightened after Bashar al-Assad's regime suppressed pro-democracy protests in 2011, sparking war.
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