Canada removes Syria from state sponsor of terrorism
Canada announced on Friday that it had removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and revoked the designation of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham as a “terrorist entity”, joining a string of countries that have already eased sanctions on Damascus.
Canada’s foreign ministry said in a statement that these decisions weren’t taken lightly.
The statement added, “these steps comes in line with recent decisions taken by our allies, including the United Kingdom and the United States, and come on the heels of the efforts of the Syrian Transitional Government to promote Syria’s stability”.
Canada added Syria to its list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2012, after the Assad regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests plunged the country into a bloody civil war.
Canada has imposed sweeping sanctions on HTS for its links to al Qaeda, but several Western countries have removed the group from its terrorist lists to allow for better cooperation with the new Syrian government and its president, Ahmed al Shara.
Since taking power, Syria’s new leadership have sought to shed their violent past and present a more moderate image to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.
The Canadian Foreign Ministry announced that Canada had kept its sanctions on 56 Syrians, including former officials from the ousted Assad era and members of his family.
