The United States has removed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa from a “terrorist” sanctions list before a meeting between the country’s new leader and President Donald Trump next week.
The US Department of the Treasury removed al-Sharaa, a former fighter linked to al-Qaeda, from the Specially Designated Global Terrorist list on Friday. The United Nations Security Council also removed al-Sharaa from a largely symbolic sanctions list on Thursday.
The official removal of al-Sharaa from the list is the latest move meant to remove potential barriers to Syria’s pursuit of economic and political integration after years of devastating civil war and former leader Bashar al-Assad’s removal from power in December 2024.
Washington and the UN also removed Anas Hasan Khattab, a former fighter linked to al-Qaeda but now serving as Syria’s interior minister, from the list.
“With the adoption of this text, the council is sending a strong political signal that recognises Syria is in a new era since Assad and his associates were toppled in December 2024,” Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, said in his statement after the UNSC vote on Thursday.
The US president is expected to host al-Sharaa, who, as a former fighter, once battled US troops in Iraq, at the White House on November 10, the first Syrian president to make the trip.
Trump met al-Sharaa for the first time in May during a summit in Saudi Arabia, where he announced an end to some US sanctions on Syria put in place during the Assad regime that some analysts said would have made it difficult for the country to rebuild its economy.
The US Congress has said it is working to repeal additional sanctions on Syria that remain in place, with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee welcoming the removal of UN sanctions and saying it was time to “bring the Syrian economy into the 21st century”.
