A UN envoy on Sunday called for an immediate end to Western sanctions Syria as the new leaders of the country and regional and global powers begin to follow a path forward after the 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 of Assad's brutal response to what started as peaceful protests against the government in 2011 and later turned into a civil war.
The rebel alliance that ousted Assad and broke his iron grip on the country just days ago in the face of a nation that is besieged and deeply divided by strict international sanctions, which added to the economic problems that ' in Syria before. But other challenges are also complicating the reconstruction of Syria: the new transitional leadership has not expressed a clear vision of how the country will be governed, and the main group behind the crime committed by a designated a terrorist by the US.
The UN envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, told reporters in Damascus that getting quick relief from sanctions will help put Syria back on track after the few past weeks.
“We hope to see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can really see a rally around the construction of Syria,” he said.
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Parts of Syria's largest cities remain damaged or destroyed by years of fighting. Reconstruction has been largely hampered by sanctions aimed at preventing the rebuilding of damaged infrastructure and property in government-held areas without a political solution. .
Pedersen traveled to Damascus to meet with officials from the new interim government formed by the former opposition forces that defeated Assad, led by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. Officials in Washington have announced that the Biden administration is considering removing the group's terrorist designation. The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said that Saturday officials have been in direct contact with the group.
Over the weekend, Blinken attended an emergency meeting in Jordan where he said he had the support of 12 foreign ministers from the Arab League, Turkey and top officials from the European Union and the United Nations on how to deal with Syria. to be run after decades of the Assad family. management
They agreed that the new government should respect the rights of minorities and women, prevent terrorist groups from taking hold, ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those in need, and chemical weapons protect and destroy any remnants of the Assad era. Blinken has promised that the United States would recognize and support a new government that met these principles.
A reading from President Biden's virtual call with the 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 clock on the Biden administration running out, it is not clear what approach President-elect Donald Trump will take on Syria.
Syria's interim government is expected to rule until March, but the process by which a new permanent administration would replace it is still unclear.
“We have to start the political process that includes all Syrians,” Pedersen said. “Of course that process has to be led by the Syrians themselves.”
He called for “justice and accountability for crimes” committed during the war and for the international community to support humanity.
In a sign of Syrians' desire for a return to normalcy, even after a devastating rebel attack in recent weeks, schools in Damascus opened on Sunday for the first time since the rebels marched on the capital.
At the Nahla Zaidan school in the capital's Mezzah district, teachers raised the three-star revolutionary flag instead of the 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 live the virtues of this country , “said Maysoun Al-Ali, the director of the school.
“God willing, there will be more development, more security and more construction in this beloved country.”
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