Page 5 - Syria

EU cautiously agrees to ease sanctions on Syria in wake of Assad's downfall

European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, while insisting that the measures should be reimposed if they see any abuses by the country's new rulers. The EU started to impose asset freezes and travel bans on Syrian officials and organisations in 2011 in response to Bashar Assad's crackdown on protesters, which festered into a civil war. The 27-nation bloc targeted 316 people and 86 entities accused of backing Syria's former ruler. It is keen to lift those measures if Syria's new leaders set the country on the path to a peaceful political future involving all minority groups and in which extremism and former allies Russia and Iran have no place. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ministers had agreed on a roadmap for easing sanctions. Speaking after chairing the meeting, she said, the aim was to lift those measures that are most hindering the early buildup of the country and to move from there. She underlined that the ministers had on

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EU ministers consider easing sanctions on Syria at meeting later in January

European Union foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing sanctions imposed on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief said on Sunday. However, she said the move would depend on Syria's new rulers carrying out an inclusive political transition after last month's overthrow of president Bashar Assad. Kaja Kallas' comments came at a gathering of top European and Middle Eastern diplomats in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss Syria's future. Saudi Arabia called for the lifting of sanctions, which threaten to undermine Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 5,00,000 people and displaced half the country's prewar population of 23 million. European countries and the US have been wary over the Islamist roots of the former insurgents who drove Assad out of power and who now lead an interim government. The former rebels have promised to hold a national dialogue summit that includes different groups across Syria to agree upon a new ...

China concerned after Syria appoints Xinjiang Uygur militants to top posts

China said it is greatly concerned over the new Syrian government appointing foreign terrorist fighters, especially from the banned Uygur militant group 'the East Turkestan Islamic Movement', to senior military ranks. The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is active in China's volatile Xinjiang province. These remarks were made by Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, at the UN Security Council Briefing on Syria on Wednesday. China is greatly concerned about the reports that said the Syrian Army has recently granted senior military ranks to a number of foreign terrorist fighters, including the head of Council, a listed terrorist organisation, the Turkistan Islamic Party, also known as the ETIM, Cong said. He called on Syria to fulfil its counter-terrorism obligations and to prevent any terrorist forces from using Syrian territory to threaten the security of other countries, according to official media reports here. Reports from Syria say that the new Syrian regi

US troops need to stay in Syria to counter Islamic State: Defence secy

The US needs to keep troops deployed in Syria to prevent the Islamic State group from reconstituting as a major threat following the ouster of Bashar Assad's government, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told The Associated Press. American forces are still needed there, particularly to ensure the security of detention camps holding tens of thousands of former IS fighters and family members, Austin said Wednesday in one of his final interviews before he leaves office. According to estimates, there are as many as 8,000-10,000 IS fighters in the camps, and at least 2,000 of them are considered to be very dangerous. If Syria is left unprotected, I think ISIS fighters would enter back into the mainstream, Austin said at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he travelled to discuss military aid for Ukraine with about 50 partner nations. He was using another acronym for the Islamic State group. I think that we still have some work to do in terms of keeping a foot on the throat of ISIS," he ...

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US eases restrictions on Syria to allow aid, keep sanctions in place

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after Islamist insurgents ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad last month. The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions. The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government. The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance, a Treasury Department statement reads. Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said his agency "will continue to support humanitarian assistance and responsible governance in Syria. Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new

Syrian civil war explained: What Assad’s fall means for India

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s 50-year regime collapsed on December 8, 2024 after a major offensive by opposition forces.

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Business Standard wishes all its readers a very happy new year

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11 killed in Israeli airstrike near Syria's Damascus, says war monitor

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrike targeted a weapons depot that belonged to Assad's forces near the industrial town of Adra

Syria's embassy suspends services as Lebanon hands over its army officers

Syria's embassy in Lebanon suspended consular services on Saturday, a day after two relatives of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad were arrested at the Beirut airport with allegedly forged passports. Also on Saturday, Lebanese authorities handed over dozens of Syrians including former officers in the Syrian army under Assad to the new Syrian authorities after they were caught illegally entering Lebanon, a war monitor and Lebanese officials said. The embassy announced on its Facebook page that consular work was suspended until further notice at the order of the Syrian foreign ministry. The announcement did not give a reason for the suspension. Two Lebanese security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the suspension was ordered because the passports belonging to Assad's relatives the wife and daughter of one of his cousins were believed to have been forged at the embassy. Assad's uncle, Rifaat Assad who has

Forces loyal to ex-Assad regime kill 14 as Syria sees upsurge in violence

Several deadly incidents in recent days underscore the fragile security situation in Syria following the downfall of Assad's long-standing regime

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Clashes between Islamists in Syria and Assad's supporters kill 6 fighters

Clashes between Islamists who took over Syria and supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad's government killed six Islamic fighters on Wednesday and wounded others, according to a British-based war monitor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighters were killed while trying to arrest a former official in Assad's government, accused of issuing execution orders and arbitrary rulings against thousands of prisoners. The fighters were from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led the stunning offensive that toppled Assad earlier this month. Syria's transition has been surprisingly smooth but it's only been a few weeks since Assad fled the country and his administration and forces melted away. The insurgents who ousted Assad are rooted in fundamentalist Islamist ideology, and though they have vowed to create a pluralist system, it isn't clear how or whether they plan to share power. Since Assad's fall, dozens of Syrians have been killed in acts of revenge, according to ..

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May we become pilgrims of hope, peace, and unity: Pope on Christmas

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message Wednesday urged all people of all nations to find courage during this Holy Year to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions plaguing the world, from the Middle East to Ukraine, Africa to Asia. The pontiff's Urbi et Orbi To the City and the World address serves as a summary of the woes facing the world this year. As Christmas coincided with the start of the 2025 Holy Year celebration that he dedicated to hope, Francis called for broad reconciliation, even (with) our enemies. "I invite every individual, and all people of all nations ... to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions,' the pope said from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to throngs of people below. The pope invoked the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, which he opened on Christmas Eve to launch the 2025 Jubilee, as representing God's mercy, which unties every knot; it tears down every wall of division; it dispels hatred and

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