Great Britain Syria's president again calls for sanctions to be lifted
Two months after the uprising in Syria, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has once again called for the lifting of sanctions against his country.
10.02.2025, 16:10
SDA
"The sanctions were imposed against the past regime for its systematic crimes, including mass killings," said the former jihadist al-Sharaa in the British podcast "The Rest Is Politics". After the end of the government of ruler Bashar al-Assad, there is no longer any justification for these sanctions.
"There is a large international consensus among all those who have visited Damascus recently and who agree that the sanctions should be lifted." The security situation in Syria remains poor and this problem must be tackled through economic development, among other things. "Without economic growth there is no stability and without stability we risk an environment that fosters chaos and insecurity," he said.
The EU had imposed sanctions against Syria from 2011 in response to the violent actions of the Assad government against the civilian population. These are directed against the now overthrown government and its supporters, as well as against economic sectors from which the government profited. The EU measures include a ban on investments in the Syrian oil industry and in companies involved in the construction of new power plants to generate electricity in Syria, a ban on imports of crude oil from Syria, an arms embargo and other export restrictions.
Al-Sharaa was appointed interim president at the end of January. He led the Sunni Islamist organization Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was instrumental in bringing about the fall of al-Assad. Since the change of power, the former rebel leader has adopted a decidedly moderate stance.
