US revoking 'terrorist' designation for Syria's HTS
"In line with President (Donald) Trump's May 13 promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria, I am announcing my intent to revoke the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.
An armed coalition led by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew then-Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last year, ending half a century of brutal rule by the latter's family.
Sharaa took over as interim president, a move that has been cautiously welcomed in Washington, Europe and elsewhere, with historic foe Israel seeking to build ties with the new government.
Washington's move will formally take effect on Tuesday, and comes after US President Trump last week formally dismantled his country's sanctions against Syria.
"Tomorrow's action follows the announced dissolution of HTS and the Syrian government's commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms," said Rubio.
HTS was earlier known as Al-Nusra Front, and was formerly the branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, but it broke ties with the jihadist group in 2016 and sought to soften its image.
As of 2017, HTS claimed control of swaths of the province of Idlib, in Syria's northwest, and went on to develop a civil administration in the area, amid accusations of brutal abuses against those who dared dissent.
In January, after overthrowing Assad's regime, the new authorities announced the dissolution of all armed factions, with some groups including HTS being integrated into bodies such as the country's new police force.
Trump had lifted most sanctions against Syria in May, responding to appeals from Saudi Arabia and Turkey to help reintegrate the war-battered country into the global economy.
The United States had already removed a bounty on Sharaa's head after he came to power.
- International reengagement -
On Friday, Syria said it was willing to cooperate with the United States to reimplement a 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel.
The United States and European countries have moved steadily to reengage with Syria since Sharaa took over as interim president, with Britain reestablishing diplomatic ties on Saturday after more than a decade.
Britain has also lifted sanctions on Syria's interior and defense ministries, as well as on various media groups, intelligence agencies and some sectors of the economy.
The Assad regime was toppled after more than 13 years of civil war by a rebel offensive led by Sharaa.
The rebellion was sparked in 2011 by protests against the Assads' brutal rule that were part of the Arab Spring movement.
The growing international backing comes as Syria's new leaders attempt to rebuild the country and reboot its moribund economy, both ravaged by the conflict and crippling sanctions.
From wanted jihadist to statesman embraced by world leaders, interim president Sharaa has undergone a stunning transformation in just six months.
He now leads a government through a five-year transitional period under a temporary constitution that experts and rights groups say concentrates power in his hands.
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Here's a rundown of foods that protesters have aimed at politicians and others: An art piece depicting an individual throwing a sandwich is seen near the Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. An increased presence of law enforcement has been seen throughout the nation's capital since President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the US National Guard. Image: Kayla Bartkowski/ AFP Sandwiches On Sunday, FBI agents were already on the ground in Washington, helping local law enforcement deal with crime, but Trump had not yet taken control of the city's police force or sent in the National Guard. Still, the presence of federal officers on the U Street NW corridor was enough to allegedly set off Sean Charles Dunn, who according to a federal court filing yelled obscenities at Metro Transit Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. He allegedly called them fascists, too. 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One of the rules of La Tomatina - the festival in Bunol, Spain, where participants sling tomatoes at one another in celebration - is that you smash the tomatoes before throwing them at another person, to lessen the impact (and maximize the squish?). An aide removes an egg from Arnold Schwarzenegger's jacket after the egg was thrown at him as he arrived at a campaign rally at the campus of California State University in 2003. The governor asked 'where's the bacon'. Image: Files Eggs Egging is a long-standing tradition, carried on by middle-schoolers and political activists alike. As with tomatoes, the rotten variety has more impact (i.e. stench). In 2022, a trucker convoy protesting outside the home of a Democratic state lawmaker in Oakland, California, was met with a volley of eggs, many tossed by kids annoyed by the intrusion of the big rigs. The origins of the practice go back centuries. In the 1871 novel 'Middlemarch,' a man's ill-fated run for Parliament includes a scene in which a mocking crowd pelts his image - and him - with eggs. Over the years, prominent US politicians have taken shellings: Eggs were lobbed at Vice President Richard Nixon at several stops on his 1960 presidential campaign; Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) was similarly greeted on the presidential trail in 1980. President Bill Clinton took an incoming oeuf in 2001 during a trip to Poland. And California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger should probably win the title for most-agreeable target for his reaction to getting hit in the (considerable) shoulders during his 2003 campaign. He defended the egging as part of free speech and joked that the perpetrator 'owes me bacon now.' Microsoft chairman Bill Gates after being hit with a pie in Brussels. Image: File Pies A pie to the face is a quintessential comedic stunt, and it's all the more primally satisfying when the object is a person of importance. The visual gag was popularized in vaudeville and in silent movies, and on-screen pieing became a cinematic staple, with practitioners such as Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and the Three Stooges. Many a political mug has been mashed into a pie, some the work of collectives such as the Biotic Baking Brigade and Pie Kill, which targeted the rich and powerful with pastry. The pie-to-the face roll call includes San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, New York Mayor Abraham Beame, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-New York), Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and Watergate plumber G. Gordon Liddy. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates too was a victim of a pie protest in Brussels. A 2004 book by the Biotic Baking Brigade called 'Pie Any Means Necessary' offered practical advice for aspiring piers (selecting the right variety, aim and the like) as well as history and ruminations on the deeper meanings behind the prank, which it deemed a 'creative tool in the toolbox of resistance.' 'Pie-throwing utilizes carnival humor,' according to an essay in the book, 'unsettling the authority and control that those in power try to project.' British politician Nigel Farage has a milkshake thrown at him during the Brexit campaign of 2016. Image: Files Milkshakes 'Milkshaking' is a relatively more recent innovation. That could be because the milkshake itself has a shorter history than other commonly employed protest foods. It became a phenomenon employed against right-wing figures in the United Kingdom as Britain considered leaving the European Union. One protester tossed a banana-and-salted-caramel milkshake at Brexit leader Nigel Farage. Other targets included anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, and anti-feminist political commentator Carl Benjamin, who was hit by a creamy treat on at least four occasions. A point against the practice is the cost, relative to, say, the moldy, leftover contents of one's produce drawer. But it has the advantage of being visually appealing - the sight of a suit-wearing stiff coated in sticky, drippy dairy is quite photogenic. And as The Washington Post reported at the time, 'attackers sipping shakes are far less conspicuous than bystanders clutching eggs.' Spaghetti The tossing of ribbons of pasta is more specific to a part of the world that's very much in the news now. In Russia and Ukraine, the expressions 'hang noodles over your ears' reportedly is akin to 'pulling one's leg' or deceiving them. In the midst of the 2014 Ukrainian crisis, in which the country's pro-Kremlin president was ousted, protesters threw piles of spaghetti at the Russian consulate in Odesa, essentially accusing the Russian media of inaccurate coverage. | The Washington Post
