UK drops terrorism designation for Syria’s HTS, former al-Qaeda affiliate that helped oust Assad

The British government removes Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that spearheaded the Syrian rebel alliance that helped oust President Bashar al-Assad, from its list of banned terrorist organizations.

HTS, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, was proscribed in 2017, meaning that Britain designated it as a terrorist group, making it illegal to support or join it.

The government said in December of last year that it could rethink the proscription. US President Donald Trump’s administration revoked the American foreign terrorist organization designation for HTS in July.

Britain had joined other nations in welcoming the end of Assad’s autocratic government, which marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations and followed years of civil war. Then-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has since become Syria’s president.

The British government said in a statement that removing HTS from the list of proscribed organizations would allow for closer engagement with the new Syrian government. It added that it would also allow cooperation with Syria to eliminate Assad’s chemical weapons program.

“The UK will continue to press for genuine progress and hold the Syrian government accountable for its actions in fighting terrorism and restoring stability in Syria and the wider region,” the government said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Syria’s Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar told Reuters at a conference in London that he hoped US sanctions against the country would be formally lifted in the coming months.