US wants UN sanctions lifted on former al-Qaeda fighter turned Syrian president

The US is asking the United Nations Security Council to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and members of his government ahead of a historic visit to the White House.

In a draft resolution obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, the US is proposing that the 15-member council drop a series of sanctions tied to al-Sharaa and Syria's interior minister, Anas Hasan Khattab.

The resolution could be put up for a vote as early as this week, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans not yet made public.

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To be approved it would require the backing of nine members and no vetoes from the permanent five – China, Russia, Britain, France and the United States.

US officials appear to be pushing for it to happen before President Donald Trump hosts al-Sharaa in Washington on Monday. It will be the first visit by a Syrian president to Washington since the country gained independence in 1946.

While al-Sharaa is in Washington, Syria is expected to join the US-led anti–Islamic State coalition, which includes some 80 countries working to prevent a resurgence of the extremist group.

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The effort is part of Trump's strategy to rebuild relations with Syria after the 50-year rule of the Assad family came to an end in December when then-President Bashar Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive led by al-Sharaa. Assad's fall also brought to an end nearly 14 years of civil war.

Since then, al-Sharaa has sought to restore ties with Arab countries and the West, where officials were initially wary of his past ties with the al-Qaeda militant group. The rebel group he formerly led, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, was previously designated by the US as a terrorist group.

They remain a listed terrorist group in Australia as of 2022.

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Trump met al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May and announced that he would lift decades of sanctions against the war-torn country. He followed through by ordering a large swath of sanctions lifted or waived.

However, the most stringent sanctions were imposed by Congress in 2019 and will require a congressional vote to remove them permanently.

Syria's conflict broke out in early 2011 and left nearly half a million people dead and millions displaced, including many who are now refugees. The war caused wide destruction, and Syria will need tens of billions of dollars to rebuild.

In May, Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN humanitarian division's chief coordinator, told the Security Council that 90 per cent of Syrians live in poverty, with 16.5 million needing protection and humanitarian assistance, including nearly three million facing acute food insecurity.

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