‘I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,’ the U.S. president says.
President Donald Trump, on May 13, announced he had ordered the cessation of U.S. sanctions against Syria, warming diplomatic relations with the country’s de facto new leaders.
“I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said in an address to the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The United States had applied sanctions against Syria after the country fell into a state of civil war in 2011. These sanctions were aimed at raising pressure on Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who finally relinquished power and fled the country in December, in the face of a surprise rebel offensive.
Syria is currently under the de facto control of a self-styled transitional government. This government was formed out of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni terrorist group formed from a Syrian Al Qaeda offshoot known as al-Nusra Front. Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham remains designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization.
Since seizing Damascus, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, have tried to distance themselves from their Sunni Islamist fundamentalist roots and strike a more moderate tone.
Speaking in Saudi Arabia, Trump signaled he’s willing to give the new Syrian government some new diplomatic leeway and hopes to see post-Assad Syria flourish.
“I say, ‘Good luck, Syria,’ show us something very special,” Trump said.
Trump noted his administration has taken other steps to re-establish diplomatic relations with Syria.
Speaking with reporters on May 13, a White House official announced that Trump intends to briefly meet with Sharaa on May 14.
“The President agreed to say hello to the Syrian President while in Saudi Arabia tomorrow,” the White House official said.
Since seizing the Syrian capital city, a rebel-led council named Sharaa as the president of the transitional government. The rebel-led council has appointed other Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham leaders to top positions in this government.
Even before Trump took office in January, the U.S. government had begun to relax some of the pressure it had placed on Sharaa and his forces.
By Ryan Morgan
