President Trump on Monday signed an executive order dismantling a series of sanctions on Syria, providing more relief to the new authorities in Damascus who overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar Assad late last year. <\/p>\n
The administration said its lifting the sanctions without conditions, but hopes the move to end Syria\u2019s isolation in global financial markets will encourage the government headed by the U.S.-designated terrorist Ahmed al-Sharaa to fulfill a number of criteria related to countering terrorism, integrating the Syrian Kurdish forces, respect for minorities, and establishing ties with Israel. <\/p>\n
\u201cNeither the president nor the secretary of State are nation building, they’re not dictating,\u201d Ambassador to the Republic of T\u00fcrkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re not requiring, they’re not giving the framework of the democratic model that needs to be implemented to their architectural desire. They’re saying we’re going to give you an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move was welcomed by the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a nongovernmental organization that has worked to track war crimes in Syria by Assad and his forces and advocate for lifting sanctions on the country under the new government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud of this amazing achievement and grateful for Ambassador Thomas Barrack, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and President Donald Trump for giving Syria a chance at democracy,” SETF\u2019s Advocacy Director, Veronica Zanetta-Brandoni said in a statement. <\/p>\n
“<\/strong>It is now the responsibility of the new Syrian government to ensure safety and security, the transition to democracy, and economic prosperity for all Syrians.\u201d<\/p>\n The SETF said the administration’s move continues efforts to hold Assad accountable. <\/p>\n “We are pleased to see commitment to accountability for the crimes committed by the Assad regime and by the terrorists of ISIS. This means helping the Syrians gather and analyze the documents and excavate the mass graves to determine the fate of more than 100,000 missing persons, including Americans Austin Tice and Dr. Majd Kamalmaz, and to lay the groundwork for trials of the major perpetrators,” said Stephen J. Rapp, the former U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice and SETF\u2019s board member ambassador. <\/p>\n Trump announced during a speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 13 that he was lifting sanctions on Syria and blasted \u201cinterventionists\u201d and \u201cneocons\u201d as wrecking \u201cfar more nations than they built.\u201d <\/p>\n Brad Smith, acting undersecretary of the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of the Treasury, said the administration reserves the right to reimpose sanctions on Syria if it feels its actions are harming U.S. interests or violating criteria laid out. <\/p>\n Sanctions will remain on Assad and officials sanctioned for human rights abuses, corruption, terrorism and other violations. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile we remain hopeful for the country’s future and its new government, we are also clear eyed that threats to peace remain,\u201d Smith said in a briefing with reporters previewing the president\u2019s executive order.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States will remain ever vigilant where our interests and security are threatened, and Treasury will not hesitate to use our authorities to protect U.S. and international financial systems.\u201d<\/p>\n A senior administration official, speaking on background under the terms of agreement for the call with reporters, said that Trump is not interested in using sanctions as leverage against Syria to pressure establishing ties with Israel and joining the Abraham Accords, the 2020 agreement that brokered ties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. <\/p>\n \u201cThe way to entice them to get to the Abraham Accords is to make it fruitful for them on an economic basis, on a civilization basis, on a peace and prosperity basis, and that’s all coming together,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n