Syria removed from terror list: “Dark spot” gone

 

TT-AFP

Published 08.26

 

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, photographed at the NATO summit in Ankara this summer. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP/TT

The United States has removed Syria from a list of countries that support terrorism. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa says a “dark spot” is gone.

– A painful chapter in the past is closed. Now we are embarking on a path of development, reconstruction and renewal, says al-Sharaa in Damascus on Tuesday – the day after the country was removed from Washington DC’s terror list.

Ahmed al-Sharaa took office after the Islamist rebel group HTS, which he led, overthrew Syria’s long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

HTS was previously linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, but has been disbanded and al-Sharaa’s conversion from jihadist is rewritten. This summer he met US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Ankara.

The US stamp has been in effect since 1979.