UK Lifts Certain Syria Sanctions, Keeps Pressure on Assad Regime Members
The U.K. this week lifted sanctions on a range of entities that had ties to the overthrown Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria while keeping sanctions on people still connected to the regime or involved in illegal Syrian drug trade.
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The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on March 6 removed 24 entities from its Syria sanctions list, including major Syrian banks, energy companies, financial institutions and an airline. The organizations and businesses had been sanctioned for supporting the Assad regime, which for years has been subject to broad international sanctions for its human rights violations.
The U.K. is maintaining sanctions on “members of the Assad regime and those involved in the illicit trade in captagon,” said a spokesperson for the country’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. “This approach underscores our commitment to help the people of Syria rebuild their country and economy, including through support for a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process. We will continue to judge Syria’s interim authorities by their actions, not their words.”
U.S. lawmakers have proposed the U.S. gradually lift certain Syria sanctions (see 2502130029).