{"id":14726,"date":"2025-11-07T06:12:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T04:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/un-security-council-removes-sanctions-on-syrias-president-interior-minister\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:27:12","slug":"un-security-council-removes-sanctions-on-syrias-president-interior-minister","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/un-security-council-removes-sanctions-on-syrias-president-interior-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"UN Security Council removes sanctions on Syria\u2019s President, Interior Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>The US-drafted resolution on Thursday also lifted sanctions on Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab. It received 14 votes in favor, while China abstained.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Washington has been urging the 15-member Security Council for months to ease Syria sanctions. Trump announced a major US policy shift in May when he said he would lift US sanctions on Syria.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe council is sending a strong political signal that recognizes Syria is in a new era since Assad and his associates were toppled,\u201d US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz said after Thursday\u2019s vote.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>After 13 years of civil war, Syria\u2019s President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December in a lightning offensive by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Formerly known as the Nusra Front, HTS was al Qaeda\u2019s official wing in Syria until breaking ties in 2016. Since May 2014, the group has been on the UN Security Council\u2019s al Qaeda and Islamic State sanctions list.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>A number of HTS members are also under UN sanctions, a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo. Those sanctions on Sharaa and Khattab have now been lifted.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>UN sanctions monitors have seen no \u201cactive ties\u201d this year between al Qaeda and HTS, according to a UN report seen by Reuters in July.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>China abstained because the resolution did not properly address its concerns about the counterterrorism and security situation in Syria, said China\u2019s UN Ambassador Fu Cong.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>China has long been vocal about its concerns with the fate of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement in Syria. Uyghur fighters from China and Central Asia are members of the group. Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of the mainly Muslim ethnic minority.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Fu said the resolution adopted on Thursday \u201cmakes it clear\u201d that Syria should \u201ctake decisive actions to combat terrorist acts and respond to the threat of foreign terrorist fighters, which include ETIM in Syria,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Russia\u2019s UN Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow supported the brief, succinct resolution because it.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cMost importantly reflects the interests and aspirations of the Syrian people themselves,\u201d Nebenzia said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Russia diplomatically shielded its ally Assad during the war, casting more than a dozen vetoes at the Security Council, on many occasions backed by China. The council met several times a month throughout the war to discuss Syria\u2019s political and humanitarian situation and chemical weapons.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>After years of Security Council division, Syria\u2019s UN Ambassador Ibrahim Olabi praised the decision on Thursday.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\u201cThe new Syria will be a success story. It will be a shining model that proves that the optimal path in international relations is positive engagement and constructive cooperation. If there are concerns, Syria is fully prepared to address them with sincere intent based on mutual respect,\u201d he told the council.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14727,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-14726","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The United Nations (UN) Security Council removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is due to meet United States (US) President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday","published_date":"2025-11-07 00:00:00","news_description":"The United Nations (UN) Security Council removed sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is due to meet United States (US) President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19263,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/14726\/revisions\/19263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=14726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}